Down the Rabbit Trail
by Shinigami-cat
Summary: The blond rabbit boy keeps appearing in Gilbert's dreams. He doesn't know when it started or even when he fell asleep. All he knows is that he's awake and needs to get home, but can he do that when he doesn't even know where he is?
1. Pink Gravel Path

**Shinigami-cat: **Hi everyone! Yep it's another story. Hopefully you'll like this one too… I OWN NOTHING!

**Summary:**

**The blond rabbit boy keeps appearing in Gilbert's dreams. He doesn't know when it started or even when he fell asleep. All he knows is that he's awake and needs to get home, but can he do that when he doesn't even know where he is?**

**Warnings:**

**Do I really need one of these anymore? Just look at all my previous fan fics to find out what you're in for.**

**Down the Rabbit Trail**

**Pink Gravel Path**

As far as he could see everything was black; black to the left, black to the right, black behind him and a silver table in front of him... That wasn't there before. Cautiously he approached the table. On it were two bottles. Both had the words drink me on them and looked the same in every possible way.

He picked up the bottles and looked them over. In the fine print at the bottom of both bottles were words. One said; "_For those who want to escape reality_" and the other "_For those who don't_". He put the bottles back on the table and frowned.

'_I don't get it… this dram is weird…_' He thought. '_What's with these bottles? Do I have to make a choice?_'

"Perhaps I could make this easier for you." Said a voice. Standing on the other side of the table was a boy about his age with violet eyes and soft, wavy blond hair. He was wearing a red suit with golden accents and round rimmed glasses but his most striking features were his large, blond rabbit ears and equally fluffy and blond rabbit tale.

"You again!" Cried the boy. He had seen this rabbit boy many times before, but never really spoke to him. He always ran away before he could get the chance to, but now here he was, standing in front of him with a grin on his face.

The rabbit boy grinned and picked up a bottle. "You want this one." He said happily, handing the bottle to the boy.

Said boy looked over the bottle again. It was for those who wanted to escape reality. "No thanks… I don't drink random crap that strangers give me… Later."

He turned around to walk away, but was quickly pulled back and pulled into a heated kiss by the rabbit boy. The more human of the pair gasped in shock giving the rabbit boy the chance to slip his tongue into the other's mouth. Almost instantly the boy's mouth was flooded with a sweet tasting liquid.

His eyes widened in shock. '_HOLY SHIT HE'S MAKING ME DRINK THAT STUFF!_' He tried to struggle out of the rabbit boys grip but he wouldn't let go. The boy had no choice but to swallow.

Once he had swallowed all the liquid the rabbit boy let him go and grinned. "Catch me if you can." He quickly turned and ran off into the darkness leaving the other boy extremely confused.

"The fuck? What just happened?" He was angry and confused all at the same time. Why did that blond rabbit boy make him drink that stuff and why did he want to get chased? He didn't understand. Reluctantly, with nothing else to do he got up and started to chase after the blond rabbit. "Who the fuck are you?" He yelled.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert groaned a little as he opened his eyes and looked at his surroundings. He seemed to be in some kind of forest, which was odd because before he was… somewhere. He sighed and shook his head. He would have to figure it all out later.

He looked down at himself and frowned. He didn't remember putting on some purple button up shirt or black shorts or black knee high boots either. Gilbert shrugged it off and got up. He dusted himself off and started to look around the forest. He seemed to be next to some kind of pink gravel path. It wasn't the yellow brick road, but it would have to do.

Gilbert frowned and started to walk down the pink gravel path. For some strange reason he couldn't remember much about anything apart from the weird dream he jus had.

'_Shit… What was I doing before? Crap I was going to see my brother wasn't I?_' His widened in shock. '_That's right… I was going to visit him. I haven't seen him in a while… Crap where the fuck is he?_'

Now it wasn't like Gilbert's brother couldn't take care of himself, he just didn't want to leave him alone when he had said that he would visit him. He was very punctual about that that kind of thing. With that thought in mind he started to move down the path a little faster.

As he was walking along he started to hear other footsteps rapidly approaching. Before he even had the chance to turn around a pair of hands grabbed him by the shoulders and a person in a red suit leap-frogged over him. Gilbert stood there in shock. This boy had blond rabbit ears and tail. He looked just like the boy out of his dreams.

"Hey!" Yelled Gilbert as he started to run after the rabbit boy. "Wait up a second! I want to talk to you!"

The rabbit boy looked over his shoulder revealing his stunning violet eyes framed by his round rimmed glasses. He looked a little frustrated. "No, no, no, no, no!" Cried the rabbit boy. "I'm overdue! I'm really in a stew! No time to say goodbye, hello! I'm late! I'm late! I'm late!" Just to add emphasis he pulled out a large fob watch from his pocket and turned as white as a sheet. "I'M LATE!" He practically screamed. He quickly shoved the watch back into his pocket and bounded off like a rabbit into the distance.

Gilbert just looked at the rabbit boy in shock as he bounded off down the pink gravel path. Never being one to give up a chase, Gilbert quickly started to run. He wasn't a track star, but he was fast enough.

It wasn't long before he tripped and fell face first onto the path, skidding down a hill and hitting a rock. "… Fuck that hurt." He sat up and groaned. "Stupid rabbit thing…"

"I'm telling you it's this way!" Snapped a harsh voice, laced with a thick Italia accent.

"But if we go that way we'll have to pass through the Cold Lair!" Cried a terrified voice laced with an equally thick Italian accent.

"SHUT UP! I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!"

Gilbert frowned and looked up. He was gazing at two Italian boys wearing overalls with vertical dark blue and green stripes. They both wore propeller bennies on their heads and were both brunettes. Although… one had a darker shade than the other. The one with the darker hair also seemed a lot angrier than the one with lighter hair.

The happier of the two frowned a little. "But the Undertaker lives there! I'd rather visit Mr Fix! At least he lets me sit there while he fixes the clocks!"

The grumpy one rolled his eyes. "Whatever… Hey, I think someone's watching us." He was pointing straight at Gilbert.

Gilbert grinned a little. "Um… you two see a blond rabbit boy bounce by?"

The grumpy one rolled his eyes while the other one grinned and walked over to Gilbert. "Ve, hello there. I'm Tweedie Dum, but you can call me Feliciano or Feli, and my fratello is Tweedie Dee, but you can call him Lovino."

"Don't tell him that!" Snapped Lovino. "He's a stranger! You can't tell him that shit!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and stood up, dusting himself off. "Calm down. My name is Gilbert… Now have you seen a blond rabbit boy?"

Feliciano nodded happily and linked arms with Gilbert. "Yep! He lives at the Hatter's house. We can take you there… By the way, who are you?"

"I told you my name…" Muttered Gilbert as he tried to pull himself from Feliciano's grip. "What else do you need to know?"

"What's your fucking title?" Snapped Lovino in a huff. "That idiot already told you we're Tweedie Dee and Tweedie Dum."

"… I don't have a title." Said Gilbert.

"Bullshit." Snapped Lovino. "What's your title? Do you even have a card?"

"A card?" Asked Gilbert. He was getting more and more confused by the second.

Feliciano nodded and took a playing card out of his pocket, but it was unlike any playing card he had ever seen. It looked more like a tarot card. It was a bluish, green card called '_The Fool of Diamonds_'. Lovino took a similar card out of his pocket, but his was a darker green in colour. It was also called '_The Fool of Diamonds_'.

"This kind of card." Said Feliciano happily. "Don't tell me you don't have a card! Everyone here needs a card! Check your pockets!" Gilbert frowned and put his hands in his pockets. He pulled out a card. It was had the symbols of the heart, diamond, spade and club in each of the four corners. It was called '_The Alice of Wonderland_'.

Gilbert frowned. "What the hell? What's the Alice of Wonderland card mean?"

As he was pondering how such a card made its way onto his person in the first place Feliciano and Lovino looked at Gilbert in shock before quickly turning to each other and quickly speaking in rapid Italian. Suddenly they grabbed Gilbert by his arms and started to lead him down the path.

"HEY!" Yelled Gilbert. "LET ME GO!"

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Relax Alice. We're just taking you to that fucking rabbit like you asked." He took the card out of Gilbert's hand and shoved it into Gilbert's breast pocket.

Feliciano nodded in agreement. "Ve, you don't have anything to fear from us Alice. We are simply your escorts."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "Alice? My name is Gilbert!"

Lovino shook his head and muttered something darkly in Italian. This caused Feliciano to pout. "Lovi!" He cried. "Don't be mean to the Alice!"

"Why are you calling me Alice?" Snapped Gilbert.

"Simple." Said Feliciano happily. "Your name is Gilbert, like mine is Feliciano and he is Lovino."

"But that's not your title." Said Lovino. "Your title is Alice, like his is Tweedie Dum and I'm Tweedie Dee. Kind of like how there are dukes and duchesses. Alice is just your title."

Gilbert frowned. That explanation was just odd and made no sense what so ever. '_Okay… this is just crazy! I don't have time for this. I need to find that fucking rabbit boy and get back home to my brother._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They walked for what seemed like ages with the Italian brothers chatting back and forth in their native tongue. It pissed Gilbert off a little that he had no idea what the two were saying so he decided to try and strike up a conversation. "So… Where were you two going before you found me?"

"Ve, we were going to the Carnival." Said Feliciano happily. "This time of the year the traveling circus stops by and makes their home there for a few months while the snow storms in the Cold Lair get worse… But we got a little lost…"

"We weren't lost…" Grumbled Lovino. "I knew which way we were going."

"Is that my little tomato and his cute brother?" Cooed an overly excited voice.

Lovino cursed under his breath. "Fuck… Hope no one is allergic to cat hair." In a matter of seconds a handsome Spanish man with a sleek brown cat tail and ears appeared. He was wearing a pair of tattered black jeans and a red vest that showed off his toned chest.

The cat man grinned happily at the trio. "Hey amigos! How is everyone? Oh, and who's the albino?" Gilbert sighed a little. At least he wasn't called a demon again. Such was the curse of having pail skin, silver hair and red eyes.

"Fuck off bastard!" Snapped Lovino. "You're not supposed to be here! This is Hatter's territory! In case you've forgotten the hatter's and the hearts are having a turf war!"

Feliciano sighed and whispered into Gilbert's ear. "That's the Cheshire Cat. AKA Antonio."

Antonio grinned and quickly pulled Lovino away from Gilbert and hugged him tightly. The Spaniard was purring happily as the Italian tried to get out of his grip. "FUCK OFF CAT!"

"No!" Purred Antonio happily. "I haven't seen you in weeks! I just managed to get away from the Queen of Hearts and I want to spend time with you!" Lovino growled and grabbed Antonio's tail, ripping out a chunk of his fur. Antonio cried out in pain and let Lovino go. "Why are you so mean to me?" He whined.

"Because you're a stupid tomato bastard!" Snapped Lovino. Feliciano sighed and walked over to Antonio and Lovino to try and calm everyone down.

While this was going on Gilbert turned tail and ran. He didn't appreciate getting man handled by two freaky Italian brothers or hang around some strange cat thing, although Antonio did seem like a pleasant sort of guy. He shook his head and kept running.

After a while Gilbert came across a small pool of water. He sat down on a rock near the edge and took out his card again. He gazed over the card with a sceptical eye, frowning. '_What is this place? It's a world on nonsense. It's almost like what everything is it isn't and what everything isn't it is… It's like that book with the chick following that rabbit down that rabbit hole, but everything was a dream…_'

As he sat silently and pondered this he happened to hear branches rustling, keeping very still Gilbert sat there and watched to see what was happening. In a matter of seconds the blond rabbit with the violet eyes appeared. This time he was carrying a brown leather bag. He put it to the side and kneeled down by the pool and stuck his head in.

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. '_... Is he okay?_'

A few seconds he re-emerged, gasping for air. "Much better." He said happily. The boy then opened up his bag and pulled out a stack of letters. He began to sort them. "Let's see… Got to take these to the Cold Lair, then these to the Hatter and these to the Carnival and the Circus… A rabbit's work is never done."

Gilbert frowned a little. "Hey, excuse me rabbit thing?"

The rabbit boy jumped, sending several letters he was holding into the air. He gulped and quickly started to gather the letters. "No, no, no, no, no. I don't have time for chit chat. The Queen will have my head if I don't get these invitations out to every kingdom by night fall. I'm already late enough as it is!" He quickly shoved all his letter's back into his bag and took off.

Gilbert growled a little and took chase. There was no way he was going to let this blond rabbit run away from him for a third time. As he ran after the rabbit boy the scenery began to change from forest-like trees to more of the garden variety. But eventually he lost sight of the rabbit boy again.

Gilbert eventually stopped running and started panting. "That's it…" He puffed. "Rabbit stew for dinner…"

Suddenly a sword stabbed the tree trunk next to his head causing Gilbert to gulp and turn. Looking down at him was a blond man with ridiculously large eyebrows He was wearing a suit that reminded him of Two Face from the Batman series. The left side of his suit was purple, blue and pink. The right side was different shades of dark green and brown. Even this man's eyes were different. One was light blue and had a crazy air about it while other was the most astonishing shade of green and had a malicious look about it.

He pulled the sword out of the tree trunk and pointed the sword at Gilbert's throat, smiling sweetly at the boy. "What's all this about making my rabbit into stew?"

Gilbert gulped and put his hands up. "It's just an expression!"

"Sorry chap." Said the man. "I don't take to kindly to trespassers that threaten to murder and eat my rabbit." He raised the sword up into the air and swung it down.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Mwahahaha! Yes I left it there! Please review!


	2. Tea Time

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Hope you all feel awesome and yeah I have read Alice in the country of hearts… I OWN NOTHING!

**Tea Time**

Gilbert gulped and closed his eyes, he thought for sure that he was going to get his head chopped off but the blow never came. He slowly opened his eyes to see that the crazy man in the top hat was looking at his wrist watch. "Oh blast." He said. "I almost missed tea time." He put his sword away and walked off, seeming to have forgotten about Gilbert all together.

He shook his head and started walking again. Hopefully he wouldn't run into that crazy man again. But in a matter of seconds Feliciano and Lovino caught up with him, Antonio wasn't far behind either.

"Why the fuck did you run you stupid bastard!" Snapped Lovino angrily.

Feliciano nodded in agreement. "Arthur could have gotten you!"

"Crazy guy in a top hat?" Asked Gilbert. "He already tried to kill me."

Antonio laughed. "Already? Did you tell him you are Alice?"

"I don't give a shit about that stuff." Said Gilbert. The whole Alice thing was messed up in his opinion.

Lovino rolled his eyes. "Whatever… Come on, we better get to the fucking tea party before the Hatter turns completely loopy."

"Wait… we're actually going to see him?" Asked Gilbert in shock. "He tried to kill me!"

"Ve, he didn't know you were the Alice." Said Feliciano. He grabbed Gilbert's arm and started to drag him through the garden. "Besides, the tea parties are fun… just don't eat the scones or the crazy eye cupcakes."

Gilbert shook his head. "I don't even want to know…"

Lovino sighed as he followed his brother and Gilbert. "Crazy bastard's going to go ape shit if we're late for tea again… And he's going to castrate the fucking cat."

Antonio's eyes went wide. "Castrate me? What did I do?"

"You live with the fucking Queen!" Snapped Lovino. "The turf war, feud, kill any hearts when they step foot into diamond territory and vice versa? Ring any bells?"

"Oh yeah…" Muttered Antonio to himself. "I can defend myself against that crazy Hatter."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

A few minutes later the four of them arrived at a table set in the middle of the garden. There were about ten chairs around it, twenty different tea pots, blue and pink cupcakes, burnt scones and ginger cookies set out on fancy plates. At the head of the table was Arthur drinking his tea.

"You two are late." He said. Directing his comment towards Feliciano and Lovino.

"Sorry about that Arthur." Said Feliciano. He took a seat and quickly poured himself a cup of tea. "Got a little lost…"

"It's the fucking cats fault!" Snapped Lovino. He sat down and grabbed a cookie, looking over it with a critical eye before nibbling it.

Antonio took a seat and pouted. "But Lovi, it isn't my fault you're so cute!"

Lovino glared at Antonio. "Call me cute again and I'm shoving a crazy eye cupcake down your throat."

Arthur looked at Antonio with mild annoyance. "Why might you be here? The Queen wants to spy on me again or something like that?"

Antonio poked out his tongue. "I came to see Lovi… also is the Dutches still living here or is she with the Gryphon?" He smiled a little. "I miss Gryphon… he plays the most wonderful music."

"Those two should be coming along any second now." Said Arthur. "Gryphon doesn't miss out on tea."

Gilbert sighed and sat down. '_These people are nuts._'

As soon as he sat down Arthur suddenly jumped up. "NO ROOM!" He yelled. "NO ROOM FOR HIM!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "There's plenty of room."

"But it's rude to sit down without being invited!" Snapped Arthur.

"But he's the Alice!" Cried Feliciano. "Surly there is room for the Alice?"

Arthur shrugged and sat back down. "Too right lad. The Alice always has a place at the table of the Mad Hatter." He picked up a tea pot and poured himself some tea.

Gilbert shook his head and picked up a tea pot. '_That guy is a few puppies short of a pet shop…_' When he tried to pour himself some tea a small boy in a sailor suit fell out. On closer inspection he had mouse ears and a tail.

The mouse boy stood up in Gilbert's cup and pouted. "That wasn't nice you big albino bully!"

"Shut up." Snapped Gilbert. "Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my tea cup?"

"I'm the Dormouse you jerk!" Snapped the little boy. "That tea pot is my house!"

Arthur frowned a little. "Peter, are you annoying the Alice?"

Peter frowned and climbed out of the cup. "Leave me alone you British jerk of jerks! You're the one that put my tea pot out there in the first place!"

"What did you just say?" Snapped Arthur. While Arthur and Peter were yelling at each other Gilbert couldn't help but notice Antonio's predatory gaze set on Peter.

Lovino seemed to notice this too because he broke a tea cup over the brunet's head. "No." He snapped.

Before Antonio could retaliate a beautiful woman with a flower in her long brown hair and a dark blue dress quickly ran over to the table followed by a man wearing a suit and glasses. "Sorry we are late." Said the woman as she quickly sat down next to Gilbert. "Roderich was playing such a beautiful melody I couldn't bring myself to tell him the time."

Roderich nodded in agreement and sat next to the woman. "My apologies Arthur."

Arthur pouted a little, but shrugged it off. "At least you're here now."

As Roderich poured himself and the woman tea Gilbert couldn't help but notice the man had rather sharp, talon-like claws. Leaning back in his seat a little he noticed that the man also had a lion's tail and feet. Now that he thought about it, the man also had very eagle-like eyes. '_So I'm guessing he's the Gryphon… So that makes this chick the Dutches._'

Roderich noticed Gilbert's gaze and frowned. "It's very rude to stair."

The woman chuckled a little and looked over at Gilbert. "I don't believe we've met before young man. I'm the Dutches, Elizabeth. This is the Gryphon, Roderich."

Gilbert smiled at Elizabeth. She seemed nice enough. "Nice to meet you. My name's Gilbert. I'm the… I'm the Alice."

Elizabeth and Roderich looked at him in shock, causing Gilbert to blush and look down. "Don't be embarrassed." Said Elizabeth quickly. "It's just that… we expected someone a little more… feminine."

Gilbert sighed. "Don't remind me…"

"There's nothing wrong with that though." Said Antonio as he drank from his cup.

"Agreed." Said Elizabeth. She picked up a cookie and broke off a bit, giving it to Peter who was sitting on the handle of her tea cup.

Suddenly Arthur jumped up waving an empty cup around in his hand. "CLEAN CUP!" He yelled. "CLEAN CUP! MOVE DOWN!"

Everyone immediately stopped what they were doing and jumped up, and quickly found another seat. Gilbert who was more than confused at this point was hauled out of his seat by Antonio and moved him down into the seat that Elizabeth was sitting in moments before. Just as quickly as it started it was over. Everyone was in different seats and talking to each other normally again.

Gilbert shook his head. "I don't need this." He muttered. "I need to find that rabbit…"

"Oh yeah…" Said Antonio in a spaced out voice. "Hey Arthur, where's the rabbit? Shouldn't he be here right now?"

Arthur shrugged and quickly put Peter back into his tea pot before he stole one of his sugar cubes. "I haven't the foggiest… Knowing him that stupid blond is making more disgusting veggie burgers."

Gilbert grinned. "A blond rabbit you say?"

"Ve, that's right!" Cried Feliciano happily. "Gilbert's looking for your rabbit!"

Arthur frowned and glared at Gilbert. "I know… Said he wanted to turn him into rabbit stew."

"Expression." Snapped Gilbert. "I didn't mean it."

Elizabeth chuckled a little. "Looking for that rabbit causes nothing but trouble for most people, but he always turns up when he's needed. Isn't that right Hatter?"

Arthur frowned and put some sugar into his tea. "I'm sure I don't know what you mean…"

"The dumb rabbit will show up eventually." Muttered Lovino. "He always turns up late to these things…"

As if on cue a blond rabbit in a blue suit appeared. He was grinning from ear to ear and carrying several letters. "Dudes! The March Hare is here and I got mail!" He pulled several letters out of his pocket and started to sort through them.

"Don't be bloody rude Alfred!" Snapped Arthur. "The Alice was looking for you and you kept him waiting!"

"The Alice?" Asked Alfred in shock. "My bad!"

Gilbert frowned. Although Alfred looked a lot like the rabbit he was after there were obvious differences. This rabbit's hair was shorter and had some kind of cowlick in it, he had rectangular rimmed glasses, blue eyes and was wearing a bright blue suit with dark blue parts. "Wrong rabbit." Said Gilbert disappointedly. "The rabbit I'm looking for is wearing a red suit…"

Alfred grinned. "Probably my brother then. He lives with the Red Queen." He looked down at the cards in his hands and started to sort them out. "Two for the Italian bros, one for the Dormouse, one for the cat, one for the Hatter, one for the Dutches, one for the Gryphon, one for Alice and one for me."

Elizabeth squealed with delight as she opened the card. "It's an invitation from the Queen!"

Arthur grabbed the card and grimaced. "An invitation from that ungodly she dragon… Read it out Alfred."

Alfred grinned and quickly opened his invitation and read it out. "_The Queen of Hearts had invited you to the Midnight Ball. It shall be held at the same time it has been held every year, three hours before the stroke of midnight and three more after on the longest night of the year. All are expected to attend. Failure to attend will result in a swift beheading on sight. Traditional attire must be worn. Hope to see you all there, love the Queen._"

Arthur was positively fuming. "A beheading on sight? I swear that bloody Queen is living in the middle ages!"

"Wonder if the Queen will ask me to play another song?" Mused Roderich to himself.

"I hate going to that weirdo's place!" Whined Lovino.

"It's not that bad." Said Antonio. "I'll be there."

"You're the weirdo I'm talking about!" Snapped Lovino.

While the others were talking excitedly about the ball and what might happen, Gilbert opened his invitation and to his surprise a smaller not fell out. He picked it up and quickly read over it.

_To the Alice AKA Gilbert  
__I hope to see you at the Midnight ball if I don't see you sooner. I'd hate for you to lose your head because of the Queen.  
__From the White Rabbit  
__P.S My real name is Matthew ;)  
XOXOXO_

Gilbert blushed a little and quickly stuffed the note into his pocket. "Hey Alfred… Is your brother the White Rabbit?" He asked.

Alfred thought for a second. "Yeah… I think so… Yep. That's Mattie! One of the fastest rabbits this side of the known universe! He delivers so much mail to everyone I'm surprised he hasn't got his own postal service! He just gave me these letters and ran off to the Cold Lair." He shivered a little. "The Undertaker and the Jabberwocky freak me out!"

Gilbert nodded and looked down at his lap. '_So Matthew's the White Rabbit? Sounds like a creeper._'

Elizabeth looked over at Gilbert and grinned. "Why so interested in the Queen's rabbit?"

"No reason." Said Gilbert a little too quickly. "No reason at all… I just saw a rabbit in a red suit earlier and was wondering who he was!"

Elizabeth grinned as something dark danced behind her green eyes. "Interesting…"

"Please don't be like that Elizabeth." Muttered Roderich.

"CLEAN CUP! CLEAN CUP! MOVE DOWN!" Cried Arthur. Once again everyone quickly scrambled to change seats. This time Lovino pushed Gilbert out of his seat and Feliciano shoved him into the seat at the head of the table.

"What's with all this 'move down' bullshit?" Whined Gilbert. "I haven't even had a cup of tea yet!"

"That's because you have to be quick you big bully!" Snapped Peter, who had just stuck his head out of his tea pot.

Arthur frowned and quickly pulled out a spreading knife and a jar of jam. "Time for you to go to sleep and let the grownups talk." He put some jam on Peter's nose. Almost immediately Peter's eyes became heavy and he fell back into the tea pot, snoring his little head off.

Alfred grinned happily and nudged Arthur's arm. "Hey Arthur… guess what today is."

Arthur frowned. "The day you stop making those veggie burgers in my kitchen?"

Alfred poked out his tongue. "No… It's my unbirthday today."

Feliciano grinned. "It's my unbirthday too! Same with Lovino!"

"Well a very merry unbirthday to you." Said Alfred.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "It's everyone's unbirthday today. A very merry unbirthday to you."

"Who me?" Asked Alfred.

"Yes you."

"Oh you."

"Shut it git." Arthur looked at his watch and sighed sadly. "Looks like tea time is over and by my watch it's night time."

Gilbert frowned and looked up at the sky. "But it's still day time. The sun's still out." Almost as if to contradict him the sun went down and the moon appeared. "… What the fuck?"

Roderich got up and walked over to Elizabeth, helping her to her feet. "Thank you Hatter. The tea was quite wonderful as always, and it was nice to meet you Alice."

Elizabeth giggled and stood next to Roderich. "There's no need to be so formal, Gryphon." She said playfully.

"I was simply being polite Dutches." Said Roderich with a slight grin. With a final wave from them both they disappeared off into the garden.

Antonio stood up and stretched. "I guess I should be going too, the Queen will miss me if I'm gone for too long, think's I'm up to no good."

"For once the Queen is right." Muttered Lovino. Soon everyone had trotted off to their own respective places of rest until only the Hatter, March Hare and Gilbert remained.

"You don't have a place to stay do you?" Asked Alfred.

Gilbert shook his head. "Nope… Are you offering your bed?"

Alfred grinned. "Sure, I usually sleep with Arthur anyway."

Arthur blushed and hit Alfred with a sugar cube. "You brute! You're sleeping at the foot of the bed tonight!" Gilbert sighed and whacked his head against the table. The past few hours had been the weirdest few hours of his life on record.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew sighed a little from his position in a tree overlooking the Hatter's tea party. He wanted to talk to Gilbert, tell him what was going on. But he knew that was impossible. He would have to wait for the ball or be a total creeper and watch him while he slept.

He blushed a little at that thought. '_Oh dear… That's a terrible thought! It's too creepy! The ball's in a few days. I can wait to see him again._' He looked at his watch and groaned. '_I'm late again?_'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… Please review!


	3. Queen of Hearts

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Well here's the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Queen of Hearts**

Gilbert woke up earlier than he expected. He rolled over in Alfred's bed and fell off it and onto his shoes. He groaned a little in pain and got up, before pulling on the shoes and walking out. Arthur's house was surprisingly huge, like a mansion with a million different rooms all over the place.

After a long search he found the kitchen and walked inside, surprised to see Arthur sitting cross legged on the table, drinking a cup of tea. He was wearing boxers, a singlet and his top hat.

"… Morning Arthur." Said Gilbert sleepily.

"And a good day to you Alice." Said Arthur as he drank more tea.

Gilbert frowned. "Stop calling me Alice. Call me by my name. Gilbert."

"Didn't mean to offend dear." Said Arthur. "Most people with titles address each other as so unless one says otherwise. It's very rude to just call someone by their name… Although the Alice always seems to have a little more leeway when it comes to the rules. Most unfitting and unfair if you ask me. Tea?"

"I don't drink tea." Said Gilbert. He walked over to the fridge and started to look through it. "Nasty stuff, tea is. Never developed a taste for it."

Arthur smiled and jumped off the counter and opened up a cupboard. "Then I shall make you some… What's your favourite sweet food? Let's go with chocolate. Everyone loves chocolate." He pulled out fifty different pots and put them down before grabbing an empty bowl and started to put different amounts of leaves into each one.

Gilbert watched him curiously. He had never seem someone mix tea leaves before. It was an oddly interesting experience.

After a few minutes Arthur spooned some of the leaves into a tea strainer and poured some hot water into a mug. He them put the tea strainer in and handed it to Gilbert. "Chocolate tea. Like drinking hot fudge."

Gilbert was a little sceptical that the tea would be anything like that, but it did smell good. He shrugged and took a small sip. "Holy shit! It is like drinking fudge!" He quickly drank the rest, but burnt his tongue. "Ouch! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Shit! Ouch!"

Arthur chuckled. "That's what you get for drinking scolding hot tea too quickly. You need to pace yourself… Have you given much thought to what you will wear to the Queen's party?"

Gilbert shrugged and looked down at what he was wearing. "These are the only clothes that I have… Not like I have any traditional clothing… Whatever that is…"

Arthur frowned. "Traditional clothing… I guess I should send you to get something proper to wear for the party."

As Arthur was mulling over this Alfred walked in with a grin on his face. "Hey dudes! What's up? Anything interesting happening today?"

"Let's see…" Muttered Arthur. "I am to have tea with the Gryphon and badger the Italian brother's into cleaning and cooking. You are to take Gilbert to see the Queen of Hearts so he can get something suitable to wear for the party." He took off his hat and pulled a letter out of it. "Give this to the red bitch when you see it."

Alfred grinned and took the letter. "Awesome! I can go and see Mattie! Hopefully he won't be out again."

Arthur shrugged and walked out of the room. "Well, I must depart. Things to do, people to see and all that ill fashioned rubbish."

When Arthur was gone Alfred huffed. "Is he still mad about what happened last night?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What happened last night? Actually… do I really want to know that one?"

Alfred shrugged. "It's nothing too bad, but whenever the Queen's party comes around Arthur cries in his sleep and he hates it when I drink his tears."

"… You drink his what now?" Asked Gilbert. He didn't really know how to react to hearing something like that.

"That's right!" Cried Alfred. "You don't know!" He grinned and jumped onto the counter. "Okay, so for my kind, that is rabbit people, we have this ability where we can drink people's tears and when we do that we know why they are crying…" He smiled sadly. "Arthur has a lot of hurt feelings buried deep inside him… His personality's shattered into many different pieces because of it. Most of the time he's a stuffy gentleman but there are times when he's…" Alfred shook his head and grinned. "The point is Arthur hates it when I see why he's upset."

Gilbert nodded a little. He still wasn't exactly sure what Alfred had meant, but he understood the basics. "Right… Are you two lovers or something?"

Alfred shook his head and chuckled. "No… Not when he's sober at least. When his piss drunk I got no chance of getting away from him… Still hurts that he never remembers anything when he wakes up the next day, but I don't mind… The rabbits are meant to be used as seen fit by their bosses." He said in a matter of fact kind of way.

Gilbert looked at Alfred in disbelief. "So you care about him, he has sex with you but can't remember it and you think that's okay? That's sick! That's wrong! You can't let him use you like that! Fuck the rules or whatever higher authority says otherwise!"

Alfred chuckled a little. "You're a funny one Gilbert… Here's a fun fact you probably didn't know about rabbit people either. We are in a semi-permanent state of heat. So we get turned on pretty easily."

Gilbert's face went bright red. '_Holy shit… What if Matthew is just some horny rabbit that wants to rape me…? I'm going to get raped by a rabbit!_'

Alfred chuckled at Gilbert's facial expression. "Dude, relax. It just means that parts of our body are hyper sensitive. Like our ears, tail and of course all the usual places below the equator… Our nipples are a little more sensitive than usual too…"

"I don't need a sex-ed class on rabbit people!" Whined Gilbert. "All I was curious about was the tears thing! I don't care how you guys get turned on!"

Alfred laughed and got off the counter. "Okay. Just let me get changed into my clothes and we'll be on our way to see the Queen."

When Alfred was gone Gilbert slammed his head against the counter and sighed. '_Matthew… Am I really being stalked by some creepy, horny rabbit that wants to fuck? Why does life hate me so?_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Once Alfred was dressed in his blue suit again he and Gilbert made their way out to the Queen's place. As they walked Gilbert couldn't help but think about what Lovino had said about some turf war between the Mad Hatter and the Queen of hearts. "Are we going to get killed if we go to the Queen's place?"

Alfred shook his head. "Nope. The tension between the two of them has really boiled down over the years. Everyone just considers it a lovers spat these days… Well, ex-lovers spat."

Gilbert frowned at this. Things seemed to be more complicated here than he thought. "Really? Then why does Lovino keep telling Antonio to get out?"

Alfred chuckled a little. "That's because Lovino doesn't want Antonio to get hurt anymore… Way back before I came along Antonio lived where Arthur does now… But it was all forest. Arthur and him got into a huge fight over land until Antonio eventually got up and left. It was really bad and Arthur sometimes snaps and attacks him from time to time."

Gilbert nodded a little. Things here were definitely more complicated than he thought. Instead of pushing the matter further the albino looked at the scenery around them. They had long since left the garden surrounding Arthur's home and were now back surrounded by the towering trees of the forest. It was oddly calming out here. He liked it.

He looked down at some of the wildflowers that were blooming by the path. They all seemed to be moving independently of each other and even looking at him with tinny little faces. Gilbert was about to ask Alfred about it when some bugs flew past his face, but not just any bugs. The wings on these ones seemed to be mad of bread speared with butter.

"… Butterflies?" He muttered to himself. "Seems a bit literal if you ask me…"

Alfred chuckled. "Yep. Real butterflies… Must be getting close to the Queens place. Butterflies love roses and the Queen has a garden full of them." They turned a corner and before them was a large garden full of red rose bushes all in bloom. Alfred grinned and happily walked into the garden. "Come on Gilbert. Let's go!"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and followed Alfred into the garden. It was really beautiful. He was surprised to see that someone had the time to plant so many flowers, but then again the Queen probably had servants for that.

As they walked towards a castle Gilbert started to notice something weird about some of the roses; some of them seemed to be white roses painted red. Suddenly Antonio appeared carrying a bucket of red paint and a paint brush. "Hey amigos." He said cheerfully. "Anyone want to help me paint the roses red? I kind of planted one or two hundred white roses… Please help me."

"Your problem. Not mine." Said Alfred with a grin. "Looks like you're going to lose your head, for painting the roses red. Serves you right, the Queen likes them red."

Antonio gulped a little and touched his neck. "That's the part about life I dread… That's why I'm painting the roses red. Gilbert will help me right?" He asked hopefully.

"… I guess I could help for a little while." Said Gilbert. He liked Antonio and didn't like the thought of him getting beheaded by the Queen.

Alfred shook his head and picked up Gilbert, slinging him over his shoulder. "Nope. We need to see the Queen. Antonio can get Lovino or Feliciano to help him."

Gilbert growled and tried to wiggle out of Alfred's grip. "Let me go, you overgrown fluff ball!"

Alfred chuckled. "No way. As the March Hare it is my duty to carry out the Hatter's orders no matter what they may be, and the Hatter told me to take you to the Queen."

"Someone call for me?" Asked a rather… masculine voice. Gilbert turned his head a little to see a man in a royal red robe. It was ornamented with way to many red hearts to be considered tasteful. The man had deep blue eyes and wavy blond hair that was pulled back into a pony tail. Sitting atop his head was a crown with a ruby heart in it.

Gilbert's jaw dropped. "That's the Queen? But that's a guy!"

"Yep. That's the Queen." Said Alfred with a small smirk. "The Drag Queen of Hearts. Besides you should know that the title doesn't always match the gender, Alice." Gilbert blushed.

The Queen of Heart walked over to Alfred and Gilbert smiling. "Hello Alfred. How is Arthur doing?"

Alfred glared at the Queen. "You know how he is… This is Gilbert by the way. He's the Alice."

The blond grinned and walked over to be face to face with Gilbert. "Hello there Gilbert. My name is Francis."

"Nice to meet you too… Make the rabbit put me down. Now."

Francis chuckled and tapped Alfred's shoulder. "Come one Alfred. You shouldn't man handle the Alice."

"Would everyone stop calling me Alice?" Growled Gilbert. "My name is Gilbert! Not Alice! Gilbert! Gilbert! Gilbert! Gilbert! Gilbert!"

"Calm down." Said Alfred. He put Gilbert down and gave a letter to Francis. "Gilbert needs some clothes for your party."

"Is that all?" Asked Francis with a devilish grin. "Gilbert could have come by himself it that's the case. I don't see why he would send you… unless… you upset him again."

Alfred glared at Francis, but still managed to put on a fake smile. "I don't care if you're the Queen, King or fucking Undertaker. If you hurt Arthur again I will kill you myself."

Francis chuckled. "You? Hurt the Queen? The March Hare isn't irreplaceable. I'm sure a new March Hare will find its way here eventually if you lose your head."

Alfred stuck out his tongue and hopped off. "Later. I have stuff I need to do."

When Alfred was gone Francis looked over at Antonio. "… Why are you painting my roses red?"

"… Some white rose seeds got mixed with the red rose seeds." Said Antonio hopefully.

Francis frowned at this and sighed. "Fine… paint them red until they can be replanted."

Antonio beamed. "Thanks Francis." He turned and started to paint some more of the flowers.

While he was painting Francis looked over at Gilbert. "So you need some new clothes for the party, correct?"

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah… but I don't see why. I mean what I'm wearing right now is okay, right?"

Francis shook his head. "Most certainly not! What you are wearing is not traditional. The Alice always wears a blue dress. Not a purple shirt and black shorts."

"A dress?" Asked Gilbert in disbelief. "No way! Fuck that! I'm not wearing a dress ever!"

Francis frowned a little at this but shrugged it off. "Fine then… At least let the Cook make something for you. He would be devastated to hear that you visited but didn't bother to see him."

Gilbert sighed. "Fine. I'll grace the Cook with my presence."

Francis grinned and took Gilbert by the arm. "Wonderful! I hope you will have a wonderful time while you stay in my palace."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

As the two of them walked down the halls of the palace Gilbert couldn't help but find Francis charming and funny. He didn't understand why Arthur and Alfred didn't seem to like him too much. Francis wasn't the blood crazed maniac that would chop off someone's head for no reason. The talks of beheading seemed more like light hearted jests.

"Being Queen does suck a lot." Said Francis. "Being a male with a seemingly female title is quite annoying."

"You're preaching to the choir." Said Gilbert. He sighed as he looked up at the portraits on the walls. Many of them where of women and a few of men. All of them where wearing the same crown that was now sitting atop Francis's head. One could only assume that they were the pervious rulers that had the title of Queen of Hearts. "Nice place you got here…"

Francis smiled. "Thank you. It's nice of you to say so." He walked to the kitchen and opened the door. "Oh Feliks! The Alice is here for a dress."

"I'm not wearing a dress!" Snapped Gilbert. He looked into the room and saw a male with shoulder length blond hair and a pink cooking apron. He was grinning from ear to ear.

"This is like, so cool!" Feliks cried. "And like, why won't you wear a dress? A dress is like a million times better than what I have to wear for the party! I can like so make you a dress that's like perfect for the party!"

Gilbert groaned. '_I'm not going to get out of this dress wearing thing am I?_'

Suddenly Matthew quickly ran into the kitchen and grabbed a carrot out of the fridge. Francis smiled. "Matthew, relax for a little and take a break. You've been running around all day."

"Sorry. No time." Said Matthew. "No time, no time at all. Never enough hours in a day to get everything done."

"Well at least say hello to Gilbert before you run away again." Said Francis. "Gilbert's the Alice."

Matthew looked over at Gilbert. There was a slight blush on his face, but it was hard to tell if it was out of embarrassment or because he had been running around. "H-hi. I'm Matthew. The White rabbit."

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, I know who you are. Alfred told me." He looked down and was surprised to see Feliks starting to use a measuring tape on him. "What are you doing?"

"I'm like, getting your measurements for your dress." Said Feliks. "The Alice, like, always has to wear a blue dress."

Gilbert huffed. "I don't want to wear a dress!" He didn't understand why everyone was so hell bent on getting him into one. Was everyone here perverts or something?

"It'll like, take a day or two to make a proper dress for him." Said Feliks. "Can he like, stay here for a few days?"

"Sure I can stay." Said Gilbert. It wasn't like he had much choice. Plus this way he might be able to talk to Matthew for a bit.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yep… So this chapter was kind of weird… please review!


	4. A Rabbit's Duty

**Shinigami-cat: ** So for this chapter I thought I might clear something's up about what's going on with Arthur, Alfred and Francis. There's a bit of gore and horror in this chapter, just to warn you all… I OWN NOTHING!

**A Rabbit's Duty**

_I love it when you smile. You know I'd do anything to see you smile again, right?_

Alfred sighed a little as he sat under a tree in the garden. Arthur hadn't called for him and he couldn't find the Brit anywhere. If he didn't want to be found he wouldn't.

"I bet Arthur is crying again." He muttered sadly. He felt like it was his fault that Arthur was in a foul mood again. It was always his fault.

'_When was the last time Arthur really smiled?_' Alfred asked himself. '_… I guess it was before the incident… I'll never forgive Francis for what he did to Arthur._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When Alfred first met Arthur he was all alone in the forest. He was scared, but tried to put on a brave face. He was the March Hare after all. Probably didn't help that he was about five. There was another boy with him a few moments ago, but he lost him. He was worried about him.

As he hopped along the pink gravel path, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. Eventually he spotted a pair of bright green eyes. Instead of screaming like he should have, he smiled. "Hi! My name is Alfred. Who are you?"

The green eyes widened in surprise before the person that those eyes belonged to stepped out from the trees. This young man was wearing a dark green suit that matched his eyes and a matching top hat on his head. He crouched down in front of Alfred, frowning a little.

"Hello Alfred…" He said. "My name is Arthur… Are you the white rabbit?"

Alfred shook his head. "No, I'm the March Hare… Who are you?"

"I'm the Mad Hatter." Said Arthur. He rubbed his chin a little in thought. "Say… how would you like to come live with me? It's dangerous to walk out here alone. Who knows what might get you."

Alfred beamed at Arthur. He seemed like a nice man and for some reason he felt drawn to him. "Okay!" Arthur smiled warmly at Alfred and picked him up, taking him back to his house. That was the first time Alfred saw Arthur smile.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Soon Alfred was acquainted with many others like him, rabbit people that is. There was the White rabbit, Matthew, the Snow rabbit, Katyusha, the Luck rabbit, Kiku and then himself. They were all taught by their superiors or bosses as they were known. Their teachers were the Mad Hatter, Arthur, the Queen of Hearts, Francis, the Caterpillar, Yao and the Undertaker, Ivan. It was interesting to note that the only rabbit older than their respective boss was Katyusha, Ivan was her younger brother.

At the moment Alfred was about twelve and they, the rabbit people, were being taught the basic principles of being a rabbit. Their duties if you would. Francis and Arthur were doing this lesson together because neither trusted the other to do the lesson properly.

"Now remember it's your duty to serve your boss in whatever they ask." Said Francis.

"But within reason." Said Arthur quickly. "Your main duty will be to deliver letters because you are the fastest creatures in the land. Other duties will involve things like cleaning and cooking. Right Francis?" Arthur hissed that last part.

Francis chuckled. "Of course Arthur… Also, your main duty will be to the person you serve. Their happiness is your happiness. If your boss is happy you will be happy."

"Bloody hell! You're turning them into robots!" Snapped Arthur. He sighed a little. "Look children, it's important to make your boss happy. But it's even more important that you're happy. You won't always be able to please them and make them happy, but when you do make them happy be happy that you were able to cause that happiness."

Alfred slumped over his desk, frowning a little. '_Arthur never smiles when Francis is around… I guess he doesn't like him that much._' He looked over at Matthew and sighed. The two of them had been brought up together because Francis and Arthur thought it was amusing that the two of them looked similar.

Alfred grinned and flicked a piece of paper at Matthew, hitting one of his rabbit ears. Matthew pouted and looked over at Alfred. "What?" He whispered quietly.

"This is boring." Whispered Alfred. "When do you think they'll let us go for the day?"

Matthew shrugged. "Not sure…" He tapped Katyusha's shoulder. "Excuse me. Do you know what the time is?"

Katyusha was a kind girl with short silver hair and a heart of gold… She also hit puberty hard. She didn't seen any older than about fourteen and she already looked like she had two beach balls down the front of her shirt. She looked down at her watch. "It's almost tea time, to the Mad Hatter will call this off soon. You two just have to be patient."

Almost as if on cue Arthur clapped his hands. "Well, lessons are over for today. Next lessons will be at Yao's place. Please remember that." Everyone nodded and quickly scampered off back to their own respective homes. Being a rabbit had many advantages when it came to speed.

When Katyusha and Kiku were gone Alfred frowned a little. "I don't like going to see the Caterpillar! He talks funny!"

"A prime example of what you were speaking about before is it not?" Asked Francis with a smirk on his face. "Your rabbit's racially intolerant."

"Shut the hell up frog!" Snapped Arthur. He grabbed Alfred's hand and marched right out of the palace. "We're going home now Alfred. You can play with Matthew later if you want."

Alfred frowned a little but nodded. "Okay Arthur… Can you make me some of that chocolate tea please?"

Arthur chuckled a little and nodded. "Of course Alfred." Alfred loved it when Arthur smiled. It made his chest feel warm and gave him a small sense of pride.

'_Is this what they meant when they said that my boss's happiness is my happiness?_'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

By this time Alfred was around the age of nineteen. He and his brother were sitting together in the Hatter's garden happily talking to each other about everything and nothing, but mostly they were discussing the Alice.

"What's all the big fuss about the Alice?" Asked Matthew. "I mean, they'll just be another player in this endless game of life and who's to say that the Alice is a good person or thing to have here?"

Alfred chuckled. Matthew had always been interested in the inner workings of the world and the Alice was always an important part of this. "I have no idea dude. You think Francis and Arthur are done yet?"

Matthew shrugged. "I have no clue… I'm starting to suspect they are doing more than discussing politics these days, if you know what I mean."

Alfred tilted his head in confusion. "Huh?"

"You seriously don't see it?" Asked Matthew in disbelief. "I'm saying Arthur and Francis are lovers. They have a long history together here and they seem to be a little too friendly with each other to be just friends."

Alfred rolled his eyes. "You've been hanging around Francis too much. His pervertedness is rubbing off on you. You're seeing lovers where there are enemies and claiming it as sexual tension."

"Wow fancy words that require at least three syllables. Well done Alfred." Said Matthew sarcastically.

Before Alfred could come up with a witty comeback they both heard something like glass smashing and a few seconds later Francis came running out of Arthur's house and grabbed Matthew by the arm, pulling him to his feet. "We're out of here!" He fumed. "Never before has that brat insulted me so!"

"Eh? What did he do?" Asked Matthew as he was dragged away.

Francis shook his head. "Need to know basis. Hopefully we won't see him for a long, long time."

Matthew shrugged and waved goodbye to Alfred. "Um, later I guess?"

Alfred nodded and quickly dashed off to find Arthur. He wasn't sure what had happened but he knew it was something bad. As he ran down the halls he could see the broken and shattered pieces of glass and pottery. It made Alfred shiver horribly.

"Arthur?" He called out. "Arthur where are you? What happened?" He eventually found Arthur standing next to a broken window. His left hand was bleeding a little, but he didn't seem to notice. "Shit Arthur!" Cried Alfred. He ran over to Arthur, but as soon as he got to close Arthur jumped back in surprise.

"Oh Alfred, what do you want? Where's Francis?" Arthur seemed a little confused, like he had no memory of the last few minutes.

"… Arthur, you're bleeding."

Arthur frowned and looked down at his hand. "… It seems as though I am… Odd. One second I'm talking with that bloody frog and the next… Where is he anyway?"

"He ran off." Said Alfred. "But seriously Arthur, what happened?"

"I… I haven't a clue." Muttered Arthur. Alfred didn't like that answer on bit. He knew Francis did something to Arthur. He had hurt Arthur somehow and hurting Arthur was something Alfred couldn't, no… he wouldn't forgive.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Alfred didn't know what was happening to Arthur anymore. He wouldn't talk to anyone or come out of his room for that matter. It was troubling to say the least. Eventually, after a week, Alfred gathered up courage and opened Arthur's door.

What he saw shocked him; the room was torn apart, books were shredded, furniture obliterated, clothes slashed and in the middle of it all was Arthur. There were deep cuts all along the left side of his body. He was clutching a pair of bloodied sowing scissors. It was only then Alfred noticed that Arthur's left eye on lying on the ground next to him.

"What the hell Arthur?" Cried Alfred. He ran to Arthur's side and crouched down next to him. "What the hell happened? Why would you do this to yourself?"

Arthur chuckled as a twisted grin stretched across his face. "I hate myself." He stated simply. "I hate him so much, but I hate myself so much more… I-I just can't take it anymore!" In one swift motion he opened the scissors and hacked open his throat.

Alfred screamed and pressed his hands over Arthur's neck, hoping in vein that it would be enough to stop the bleeding. "SOMEONE!" He cried. "ANYONE! PLEASE HELP ME!"

There was a cold gust of wind and a man in a light pink scarf appeared. Alfred knew this man as the Undertaker, Ivan. It was said he only appeared to take the bodies of the dead away. Ivan's body was covered in stitches; it was almost like his body was made of sheets of flesh. "You called?"

Alfred shook his head. "No, not you… I need someone who can save him. Not take him away." He could feel Arthur's blood seeping out from around his fingers.

"You are mistaken." Said Ivan as he walked towards the couple. "My intention is to take Arthur to Mr Fix. It's not Arthur's time to leave this place."

Alfred bit his lip nervously. "If you take him you have to take me too… I'm not leaving Arthur alone with you."

Ivan grinned and nodded. "But of course… I wouldn't have it any other way." There was another rush of cold air and the trio were transported to the workshop of Mr Fix, although it looked more like a surgery than a workshop.

The dark cloaked figure of Mr Fix was standing over a table, washing off bloodied instruments. He didn't even look up at the intruders. He simply tapped a bone saw against a sterilized bench, indicating he wanted Arthur placed there.

Without much hesitation Alfred put Arthur on it and Mr Fix when to work. With a few cuts, stitched and a blast from something that looked a little like a sandblaster he was done and went back to cleaning bloodied equipment.

Alfred was surprised that it was all over so quickly, but was happy none the less. "Will he be okay?"

Mr Fix shook his head. He then proceeded to tap the side of his own head, indicating there may be something wrong with Arthur's mental health. Ivan chuckled. "Oh well, if he's too broken Alfred can always bring him back.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Everything calmed down after that, though it was difficult to explain why Arthur now had two different coloured eyes. Arthur just said he woke up like that and no one questioned him, but everyone knew something was wrong. Especially when he started to rip his clothes apart and stitch them back together to create different coloured suits that didn't match up at all.

At the moment Arthur was stitching his hat back together. One side dark green, one side pink and blue. "It's a nice colour don't you think?" He asked Alfred.

Alfred shrugged. "I liked it better when it was all green… the blue and pink just doesn't seem to suit you too well."

Arthur chuckled and put the hat on his head. "But Alfred, I'm the Mad Hatter! Shouldn't I at least look the part of the insane lunatic?"

"I guess…" Muttered Alfred, but he didn't like it at all. Arthur seemed more distant these days and cold. There were days when he was better and acted like his old self, but there were days when he was completely bonkers. The other day in fact, he almost beat Antonio to death with a tree branch. It took Roderich, Alfred and Elizabeth's frying pan to subdue him. It was almost like Arthur's personality was fractured beyond repair.

Arthur sighed and walked up to Alfred. "What's wrong poppet? You seem out of it lately."

Alfred frowned a little. He was always very open with Arthur, he could say anything to the man and be heard. "You aren't yourself anymore." Said Alfred. "You're going crazy. You really are the Mad Hatter now! I want you to go back to how it was before, before you lost your mind!"

Arthur frowned and slapped Alfred hard enough to make him bleed. Alfred stood there stunned. Alfred had never raised a hand to him before, not even when he deserved it as a child. Arthur looked at Alfred's bemused expression and smiled. "Shut up Alfred." He said all too sweetly. "You should know better than to speak to me like that. I took you in when you were merely a baby and looked after you like a son or a brother, but it's clear that you don't have the same respect for me as I do for you. You just jab me with your pointy, pointy words."

"Arthur-"

Arthur pressed a finger against Alfred's lips. "Hush now Alfred. The grownups are talking… Did you know that in the past rabbits were used as lovers for their bosses? I wouldn't be surprised if Francis has done that to the White rabbit yet." He started to stroke one of Alfred's ears, earning a whimper from the blond. "Also, rabbit people like you are in a constant state of semi-heat… You might actually be more use to me now actually…"

Alfred gulped and stepped back from Arthur, his heart was beating painfully fast in his chest. Arthur was scaring him. "S-stop it already!" He stuttered.

Arthur chuckled and stepped closer to Alfred. "Did you already forget your most important lesson? It's you duty to make your boss, me, happy. Are you going to act like a spoilt brat and refuse a direct order from me?"

Alfred was trapped. He knew he was bound by duty to do anything Arthur said or wanted, but at the same time he was terrified of what this darker side of the Hatter might do to him. Reluctantly he shook his head. "No."

Arthur smiled happily, although malice did march behind his eyes, more so behind his blue eye than his green. "Wonderful."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Alfred smiled sadly at those memories. It always hurt him to relive those memories, but he couldn't help it. He just wanted to remember what Arthur was like before everything went wrong. He would always remember the good with the bad; it made the good memories better and more important. If one were to have nothing but good memories then when something truly wonderful happened it would seem like nothing.

'_I want to see you smile again…_' Thought Alfred. '_I'll do anything to see you smile again…_'

"Alfred!" Called Arthur. Alfred looked up at Arthur and smiled; he was carrying a letter in one hand and smiling a little. "I need you to take this to Yao, post haste."

Alfred grinned and took the letter from Arthur's hand. "Okay Arthur. Make me some chocolate tea for when I get back."

A rare smile graced Arthur's face. "Of course Alfred. Now get going or you'll be late for tea." Alfred grinned as he tucked the letter into his pocket and started to run off to Yao's place.

_You know I'd do anything to see you smile again… So I don't mind if you hurt me. As long as you're smiling and laughing by the end of the day like you used to, I don't mind hurt me… And the reason I don't mind is because I love you._

_Beneath the beauty of this Wonderland lie many broken souls, tormented by their own guilt, pain and the anguish of others. But one must smile and carry on. It would be rude to do otherwise._

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Sorry for the sadness and horror stuff of this chapter. It'll get better eventually I promise… please review.


	5. Life in the Palace

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Hope you are all having a good day and or night, depending on when you read this… I OWN NOTHING!

**Life in the Palace**

Gilbert was about ready to murder Feliks. Despite his greatest protests about being put in a dress Feliks was persistent and started to cut out the pattern for a blue dress, tailored to fit the albino like a silk glove. Also, to prevent Gilbert from trying to sabotage his work, Feliks had tied him up and put him in the corner of the room.

"This is cruel and unusual punishment!" Snapped Gilbert. "I demand you untie the awesome me now!"

Feliks ignored Gilbert as he fiddled around with materials. "So… I was like thinking a three layered dress. Bottom would be a white silk, second a light blue mesh to like make it puff up and the final layer will be the actual dress itself. Made from a nice blue… I like can't decide between silk again or a cotton based material."

"You can make it out of chewing gum for all I care!" Yelled the enraged albino. "I'm not wearing it!"

"Then I'll like add a white apron, and black and white thigh high sock!" Rambled Feliks, seemingly lost in his own little world. "And like, a pair of black ballet flats would look adorable! Oh, and like a black ribbon in your hair would looks so amazing! To die for!"

Gilbert sighed and allowed himself to fall over on the floor. Feliks was going to make the dress no matter what and nothing was going to stop him. Come hell or high water he would finish that dress.

'_Why do I even need to wear a stupid dress?_' He thought bitterly. '_I'm not a girl and I don't dress in drag… Why me?_'

There was a sudden knock at the door and Feliks looked up from his work. "Huh? Like, come in!"

In a matter of seconds Matthew had entered the room. He looked a little tired, but smiled politely at Feliks. "Francis wants to know how everything is going and where Gilbert is."

"I'm over here." Hissed Gilbert spitefully.

Matthew looked over at Gilbert and frowned. "Any reason why he's tied up at the moment?"

"To like, stop him from wrecking the dress." Said Feliks.

Matthew nodded. "Want me to take him off your hand then? It would be awful if he became bother to you."

"Do what you wish." Said Feliks as he pondered over fabrics.

With his permission Matthew walked over to Gilbert, picked him up bridal style and walked out of the room. "Put me down!" Snapped Gilbert. "I don't need to be man handled by a rabbit!"

Matthew rolled his eyes. "If you don't mind I'm getting you out of the palace. Francis may not be a rabbit, but he has the libido of one at the best of times."

Gilbert gulped and looked up at Matthew. "Are you going to rape me?"

"Eh? No!" Cried Matthew in shock. "Why would you think that?"

"You left me a creepy note in my invitation to go to this stupid party!" Snapped Gilbert. "Also, I'm tied up and can't really do anything can I?" Matthew paused for a second and pulled a face that seemed to be contemplating what Gilbert had just said. "That's it! I'm out of here!" Gilbert quickly heaved himself out of Matthew's grip and started to roll down the hall as fast as he could.

"Eh? Wait Gilbert! Come back!" Cried Matthew as he quickly ran after the spinning albino, not like he could stop anyway, he had picked up too much momentum. The only thing that could stop him was a wall or an incline.

'_Worst idea ever!_' Thought Gilbert as he continued to roll uncontrollably down the hall. Suddenly he felt the ground drop away from under him as time seemed to slow down, he had rolled off the top step of some long fancy stair case at high speed. '_Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck… Goodbye cruel world. I guess you couldn't handle my awesomness._'

Almost as if on cue Antonio walked in with an empty paint red can and brush. "So many roses… So much paint… Oh hi Gilbert." He dropped the objects in his hands and jumped into the air, easily jumping the height of two story house and catching Gilbert as easily as if he was made of paper before gracefully landing back on his feet.

"… How the fuck did you do that?" Asked Gilbert in shock.

Antonio shrugged and easily slashed off Gilbert's ropes with his nails. "I'm a cat. That's just what I do… Why were you tied up anyway? Francis drug you or something? I swear he has the libido of a rabbit."

Gilbert shook his head and slid out of Antonio's arms. "Second time someone's said that to me today… What's with the paint? Roses still white?"

Antonio nodded glumly. "Si, still white. Francis wants them all painted red by the ball tomorrow night."

"TOMORROW NIGHT?" Cried Gilbert in shock and horror. "THAT'S IT! I'M LEAVING! NO WAY IN HELL AM I WEARING A DRESS!" Before he could run away though he was grabbed again and picked up by Matthew. "PERVERTED RABBIT MOTHER FUCKER!" Screamed Gilbert and he started kicking and swinging his arms in all directions.

Antonio chuckled a little. "Looks like you got your hands full. I'll leave you two alone." The happy cat skipped away to find some more paint.

"Calm down Gilbert." Muttered Matthew calmly. "Just stop fighting and yelling and I'll let you go."

"Why does that sound perverted coming out of your fucking mouth!" Growled the albino.

Matthew shrugged. "I grew up with the most perverted man in the known universe and although he's never touched me in that way I've picked up a few regrettable habits. The way I speak being one of them." Gilbert stop struggling and true to his word, Matthew let him go. "Good, now don't roll off like that again. You could get hurt."

Gilbert huffed and crossed his arms. "Whatever. I still don't want to wear a stupid dress."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "You don't have a choice Gilbert. Francis is going to be wearing a dress to. As is tradition."

This didn't make Gilbert feel any better. If anything it made him feel worse. He didn't particularly care if he everyone was wearing a dress. He hated the fact that he was being forced to wear a dress. A dress just wasn't him. He was a boy and wanted to be treated as such.

"I don't' care about tradition." Said Gilbert in a gruff voice. "Tradition sucks that why I…" He shook his head. The next few words were lost on him. He wasn't sure what he was going to say next. "Just forget it."

Matthew smiled a little and grabbed Gilbert's hand. "Do you like books? Fairy tales? Picture books? History books? Animal books? Manuel's?"

"Sort of…" Muttered Gilbert. "Why?"

Matthew grinned from ear to ear. "I think I know a place you'll like."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew lead Gilbert to a huge library right at the heart of the palace. It seemed to go one and on forever, filled with millions of different books. This library was truly something magnificent. Gilbert was never one to look at books much, but he appreciated the beauty a place like this held. Now days everyone seemed only interested in the internet instead of the leather bound paper pulp.

"What do you think?" Asked Matthew quietly.

Gilbert smiled a little. "This place looks pretty cool." He walked over to a shelf and took a book. Inside were hundreds of pictures of animals in it there were highly detailed. He liked it.

Matthew smiled a little at Gilbert's reaction and took another book of a higher shelf. "I like to come here on my down time, or when things get too stressful…"

Gilbert nodded and sat down, still looking at the book in his hands. "Read any good books lately?"

"There's one…" Muttered Matthew. "It's actually this book I'm holding now. I haven't finished it yet, but it's a sad story about a boy whose brother had a seizure leaving him unable to speak. The boy meets another boy who has throat cancer in the same hospital and they become good friends. I'm nowhere near the end yet but the boy with cancer died in surgery and the brother passed away in his sleep. I'm up to the part where the funeral is taking place and the main character is walking around the cemetery waiting for the funeral to start."

"Why would you want to read something so morbid?" Asked Gilbert. That story just sounded so sad and horrible.

Matthew chuckled a little. "I believe that even the most morbid of stories will have a happy ending eventually, or at least a satisfying one. I have high hopes for this story." He smiled lovingly at the cover of the book. "I hope I can finish it soon… and I hope it has a happy ending."

"I hope so to." Said Gilbert with a small smile. "All stories should have a happy ending."

"Agreed." Said Matthew. He opened the book and continued to read. He frowned. "Oh… Don't you hate it when the title gives away what's happening in the story?" He showed Gilbert the title of the next chapter. Dead and Forgotten.

"What's that mean?" Asked Gilbert.

"Judging from the title and the first paragraph… I'd say the main character dies." Muttered Matthew.

"That sucks."

"I know." Matthew went back to reading his book and Gilbert went back to his.

But after a while Gilbert got tired of that so he started to look around the room but his eyes eventually settled back on Matthew. More specifically his tail. He couldn't help but look at it because it was just so weird. It just sat there an occasionally twitched. It was kind of cute, but then Gilbert remembered he was looking at some guys ass and looked away.

"Is there anything else besides the Library?" Asked Gilbert.

Matthew put his book away and shrugged. "Well, we could go outside and play a game of some sort." Gilbert liked that idea and nodded enthusiastically.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

"You know… When you asked if I wanted to play a game I didn't really expect this." Said Gilbert as he gestured to the flamingos standing next to him.

Matthew chuckled a little as he set everything up for a game of croquet. "Well what did you expect? Some weird game with mallets for something?

Gilbert shrugged. "I don't even know anymore…"

When the hoops were set up Matthew took a hedgehog out of his pocket and put it on the ground. The little thing curled up into a ball and stayed perfectly still. Matthew picked up one of the flamingos and turned it upside down, essentially using it as a croquet mallet. He gently tapped the hedgehog with the side of the bird's beak and the animal rolled forwards, just missing the hoop by a few centimetres.

"So close… Oh well. Ever played croquet before, Gilbert?" Asked Matthew with a small smile on his face.

"Not really… But it can't be that hard, right?" He picked up the remaining flamingo and attempted to copy what Matthew did, but as soon as he turned the bird upside down the bird went as floppy as cooked pasta. "… My bird is broken."

Matthew chuckled. "It's not his fault. He just doesn't know you so he's playing dead."

"Brilliant." Muttered Gilbert. "… Can I just kick the hedgehog, or can we do something else?"

Matthew frowned a little, but it quickly changed into a smile. "Okay. What do you want to do?"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The rest of the day was filled with equally strange and bizarre activities ranging from weird to downright dangerous. That was hours ago, now it was the middle of the night and Gilbert was fast asleep in a guest room and Matthew was walking along the halls unable to get to sleep. He was actually pacing outside Gilbert's room.

'_Go to bed to see him. Go to bed or see him…_' He thought to himself in frustration. '_I really should choose the less creepier of the options, but then again…_'

He shook his head and swallowed whatever pride he had left and opened the door as silently as possible. He could see Gilbert sleeping peacefully under the ruby red covers of the bed. Matthew swiftly walked over to the bed and crouched down next to it. From here he could see every feature of Gilbert's face. Although he looked peaceful in sleep there were obvious tears building up at the corner of his closed eyes.

Matthew shook his head sadly. '_You cry in your sleep but don't even know why._' He leaned forwards and carefully licked the droplets away without waking Gilbert. As soon as the liquid touched his tongue and passed his lips Matthew knew what was wrong. He smiled a little, though his own eyes were filled with sorrow. '_You can't remember it can you?_'

He stayed there for a bit longer, ridding anymore tears that threated to spill from Gilbert's eyes. But he soon left, carrying away the pain that Gilbert was holding on to.

To get to his room he had to pass through the dining room. He didn't expect France to be sitting in there drinking wine. "Still awake I see." He muttered with a small smile. "Legend says that rabbits only drink the tears of those they hold dearest to them, and when they drink them they take away the pain and sorrow of that person. But if the pain is to strong they might have to drink those tears for years before it finally goes away."

"I wouldn't know about that." Said Matthew quietly. "I don't intentionally read up on my kind. I just do what comes naturally to me. Goodnight Francis." He walked around the Queen and over to a smaller door over the other side of the room.

"Why do you insist on drinking Gilbert's tears?" Asked Francis a little too casually. From where he was sitting Matthew couldn't see his face, just his back. "Don't be surprised that I know what you do at night. I am, for all intensive purposes, your papa. I would like to think that you can tell me whatever is on you mind."

Matthew chuckled drily. "Gilbert is very strong willed and would never cry out loud when he's awake… but when he sleeps he has no control over his emotions so his tears are able to fall freely."

Francis laughed airily as he picked up his wine glass. "Still doesn't explain why you drink his tears."

Matthew shrugged, leaning against the door. "He's suffered a very traumatic loss and wants to forget it, but now that he's forgotten he wants to remember it… It's my fault he's in pain and I just want to take it away."

"… If that's all you may go to bed." Said Francis. "But please stop drinking Gilbert's tears. If you're tired in the morning again like you were today because you've been up all night in his room I will not be pleased."

"I understand." Said Matthew softly. He turned and exited the room.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **… Yeah, please review.


	6. Midnight Ball

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! So it's time for Gilbert to wear a dress! Mwahahaha! I'm evil… I OWN NOTHING!

**Midnight Ball**

Gilbert sighed a little as he sank further into the bath. He had woken up later than usual, midday to be precise. He didn't know why, but he felt really groggy and emotionally over whelmed. It was odd, he felt stressed but didn't know why.

To get rid of this stress Gilbert decided to have a bath. The bath he was sitting in was more like a giant bird bath with a fountain that emitted both hot and cold water through two fish shaped spouts. The one thing that he couldn't control was the weird pink goo that drizzled out of their mouths along with rose petals. He discovered that it was some kind of bubble bath with a floral sent.

It was very relaxing. He liked it a lot. He could feel all the tension leaving his body. It was like the water was pulling all the stress out of his body. It was wonderful. '_This is so relaxing… I could just stay in here forever…_' He shook his head. '_What am I thinking? I need to find my brother! Shit, I've already spent way too much time here!_'

He pulled himself out of the bath and wrapped a towel around his waist. He quickly dried himself off and went to grab his clothes, but stopped. Instead of his purple shirt and black shorts there was a blue dress and black and white stripped stockings.

"… I'LL FUCKING MURDER EVERYONE HERE!"

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert was not amused. While he was having his bath Feliks had snuck in and swapped his clothes for the dress he had made. Gilbert had no choice but to wear it. It was either that or walk around naked for the rest of the day. That option wasn't good.

Matthew smiled at him sympathetically and gently touched Gilbert's shoulder. "I know you hate it, but I can try to find you more suitable clothes after the party… Though I must say you do look nice in a dress."

Gilbert growled in frustration and tried to pull the dress down further. He only succeeded to make it ride up at the back, exposing the white silk bloomers that were made for the dress. "Shut up pervert."

"It's not my fault the dress is so short." Muttered Matthew. He went back to looking through his wardrobe for his clothes for the party. He took out a pair or grey pants, a mustard yellow button up shirt, a red blazer and a dark red coloured bow tie. "I hate this shirt…"

Gilbert smirked and sat down on the bed. Even though he was wearing a dress he was glad that Matthew had to wear something he hated too. "Serves you right you pervert."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "I'm not a pervert."

"How do I know that's true?" Asked Gilbert. "You've been nothing but creepy towards me."

"Then why do you keep looking for me?" Asked Matthew quietly. "Why do you constantly seek me out? When I jumped over you, you chased after me. It's weird that you don't like me but are constantly seeking me out…"

Gilbert blushed a little. He knew it was true. "Well… You're the sanest person I've met so far… So don't think it's something else."

Matthew chuckled. "Okay Gilbert. Whatever you say… Now please leave. I need to get changed."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Despite his protests the party was pretty awesome. Those that lived on the Hatter's land; that is, Feliciano, Lovino, Alfred, Elizabeth and Roderich showed up as Arthur's entourage. It seemed as though the leaders of the four lands had their own entourage. There were many people he didn't recognized but he could assume who they were by that they looked like and what they were wearing.

For example, there was a Chinese man with long hair tied back in a ponytail. He was wearing traditional Chinese clothes coloured green with a few coloured spots on it. From his he guessed that this was the Caterpillar.

There was also a young woman with platinum blond hair wearing a dark blue crocodile skin dress. She had horns sticking out of her head, little bat wings sticking out of her shoulder blades and a scaly blue tail. She was the Jabberwocky.

Gilbert sighed a little as he leaned against the wall. He didn't really feel like dancing or talking to many people. He just wanted to stand back and watch everyone. But luck didn't seem to be on his side when Feliciano appeared next to him with a grin.

"Hey Gilbert! That's a very pretty dress. Did Feliks make it?" Asked the happy Italian.

Gilbert nodded. "Yeah, he did… How are you going?"

"I'm doing well." Said Feliciano happily as he took Gilbert's hand. "I want you to meet a friend of mine." He dragged a reluctant Gilbert across the room over to a Japanese man wearing a black kimono. He had white rabbit ears. "This is my friend Kiku. He's the Luck rabbit."

Kiku bowed. "It's an honour to meet you Alice-san."

"Just call me Gilbert." Said the albino. "I don't really like the whole Alice thing."

"My apologies Gilbert-kun. I didn't mean to offend." Said Kiku quickly. "I wasn't informed about your title preference."

Gilbert shrugged. "It's fine. No harm done… So what do you do? Are you like the other rabbits and run errands for people?"

Kiku nodded. "Yes. Yao-san does tend to make me visit the Cold Lair quite a bit lately. Lots of letters between him and Ivan-san… Though it is difficult to get past his sister Natalia…" He shuddered a little. "She's almost as fast as me."

"Natalia? That would he the Jabberly-bibbily-wockly?"

Feliciano chuckled. "I wouldn't call her that to her face. She'll have your head. She's in love with her brother, Ivan, and pretty much attacks anyone that she thinks might be stealing him away from her."

"Good to know… Which one is Ivan?"

"The guy that's all patched up and stitched together." Said Feliciano.

Gilbert looked over at Ivan. He really did look like some kind of doll with those patchy sheets of flesh covering his body, stitched together with what looked like rope. He was talking to a man who was wearing a black cloak that hid his face from view. He looked like the grim reaper's buffer older brother.

"Who's the guy he's talking to?" Asked Gilbert.

"Ve, that's Mr Fix." Said Feliciano. "Before you ask that's his name and title. He doesn't speak so… ve."

Gilbert frowned a little. "Oh, okay. Where does he live?"

"There's a tower in the very centre of the forest." Said Kiku calmly. "Mr Fix is said to be the one you can see to fix anything from a broken clock to a broken body… There are also legends that he guards a secret spring. At least that's what Yao-san has told me."

"Interesting…" Muttered Gilbert with a small smirk. "So the big bad guy is like a doctor? What does he look like?"

Feliciano shrugged. "No one knows. He never puts his hood down… Came close to seeing his face once. He was so scary… He picked me up and put me on one to the cold metal tables… I thought he was going to murder me, but instead he gave me some pasta and patted my head before getting back to work. He's really nice. I go and watch him work sometimes. He's nice to me but Lovino hates him."

Gilbert shrugged. "I guess some people are just like that. They hate people even though they don't know them too well… So… how long until I can go to bed and forget all this stuff?"

Feliciano grinned. "Ve, there's still all the drinks and food to get through and the dancing! There's always the dancing! It's the most important part of the whole party!"

"What's the point of the part anyway?" Asked Gilbert. He still didn't understand the point of the whole event.

"Ah, that's quite simple Gilbert-kun." Said Kiku. "The party is to help unify the everyone. Every year one land must host the party as a symbol of good faith. Last year it was hosted by Yao, the year before it was Ivan, and the year before that it was Arthur."

"I see…" Muttered Gilbert. "Interesting."

Suddenly Feliciano started jumping up and down. "Ve, I just remembered! Since you're the new Alice everyone will want to meet you and get to know you! Ve, everyone will want to dance with you too!"

"Then it's official." Said Gilbert. "I'm going to run away and never return." He turned and walked straight into Alfred's chest. "Son of a bitch…"

Alfred laughed and wrapped his arms around Gilbert's shoulders. "You two mind if I take Gilbert away? I want to show him off to some people."

Gilbert blushed. "I'm not a trophy you can parade around!"

Without another word Alfred led Gilbert away from Feliciano and Kiku. "Whatever dude. Just come with me. Ivan was eyeing you off a few minutes ago and I honestly think he was going to rape you."

'… _Just what I fucking need._' Thought Gilbert bitterly. '_Another freak that wants to rape me. Is everyone here a fucking pervert?_'

"So… want to dance?" Asked Alfred with a grin.

Gilbert glared at Alfred. "No fucking way. I'm not dancing with a creepy perverted rabbit… Who I really fucking hope has a phone or something in his pocket or I swear I will fucking throw you out the window!"

Alfred frowned and took a pocket watch out of his pocket. "Yep. Just a watch. Now who's the pervert?"

Gilbert growled and shook Alfred off. "Piss off! Go dance with Arthur or something you pervert!"

Alfred chuckled a little. "Okay dude. Calm your tits. I'll go find Arthur and you watch out. Lots of perverts out there that would love to get their hands on a cute guy in a dress… And that includes Francis, even though he's also in a dress… Take care." He turned and walked off to find Arthur.

Gilbert shook his head and exited the main hall. He was tired of wearing the dress. He walked outside and into the gardens and sighed. '_This dress is annoying. These people are annoying. I'm tired of all this shit… Is that a maze? Cool._'

He walked down the garden path and over to the maze. He had been there for two days and he hadn't noticed it before. It was odd, but he didn't really care that he didn't notice it that much. Everything here was so random it could have sprung up overnight for all he knew.

The flowers seemed really bright tonight, like they were glowing slightly. It was pretty cool. He liked it. He walked further into the maze and looked around a little. The whole place was really amazing, but he couldn't help but be reminded of a maze that he read in a book once. It was the fourth book in a series about a boy wizard… Probably wasn't that important.

He took a few left turns and a few right turns, before he knew it he had become aimlessly lost. '_I'm a fucking idiot…_' He sighed and sat down. He cursed Feliks in his mind several times for making the dress so short, making it ride up ridiculously high. He felt like a slut. '_Damn it… wonder what my brother would say if he could see me now? His big strong older brother dressed in drag… Shit I feel like someone's going to jump out of the bushes and rape me… I'm so optimistic aren't I?_'

The rustling of leaves made Gilbert freeze and look around. "Shit. I knew it."

In a matter of seconds a huge shadow of a figure was towering over him. "Why aren't you at the party?" Asked Matthew.

Gilbert looked up and scowled. "Firstly, I'm in a dress. Secondly, I'm in a dress."

"That's no excuse." Said Matthew. He knelt down next to Gilbert and smiled sweetly. "I know you don't like this party and I sure as hell don't like it either, but it's just something we need to do…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes and pulled his knees up to his chest. "I don't give a fuck… I just want to go home… I've been gone for so long my brother's probably worried sick, not to mention grandpa…"

"Don't you have a mama or papa?" Asked Matthew curiously.

"My dad's long gone." Muttered Gilbert bitterly. "As far as I know my dad was my mother's ex-boyfriend that refused to take responsibility and marry her or even pay child support. She married some other guy and that's how my brother came around… They then died in a car crash leaving me and my brother in the care of our grandpa."

Matthew nodded, his ears drooped a little in sadness. "I see… I'm sorry for you loss. But if your life is so sad, why not embrace your life here? I'm sure your family would want you to be happy no matter where you end up, right?"

"I guess…" Muttered Gilbert. He felt like a heavy weight had dropped in his chest. It hurt. It felt a little like someone was pulling at his lungs or the pain one might feel after a very bad case of hiccups.

"Don't cry." Whispered Matthew gently.

Gilbert frowned and wiped the tears off his face. He didn't even notice he was crying. Suddenly Matthew grabbed Gilbert's hand and licked the tears off the back of his hand. Seconds after Matthew's tongue had met Gilbert's skin did Gilbert introduce Matthew to his fist.

"What the fuck?" Snapped Gilbert as he quickly jumped up. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Pervert!"

Matthew pouted and rubbed the side of his face. "That's not very nice. I was only trying to help."

"Bitch please! You were fucking licking me!" Snapped Gilbert in a huff. "Don't do shit like that! How the fuck would licking me help anyway you sick bastard?"

Matthew sighed and shook his head. "When rabbit's drink people's tears we instantly know what's making them upset… I was just doing that so I could see what was wrong so I could make you feel better."

Gilbert growled. "Don't do that again! It's a fucking invasion of privacy!"

Matthew's ears drooped really low so that they were lifelessly dangling on each side of his head and he had the kicked puppy dog eyes to match. "I'm sorry…"

Try as Gilbert might he couldn't resist the cuteness charm of the White rabbit. "Fine… Just don't do shit like that again." He hated it when he caved in like that, but he couldn't help that he had a soft spot for cute things.

Matthew smiled brightly and jumped up. "Okay, let's go back to the party."

"… I'd rather not." Muttered Gilbert.

"Don't want people to see you in a dress for longer than you have to?" Asked Matthew. Gilbert nodded. "Then let's go back to my house."

"Don't you live in the palace?" Asked Gilbert.

Matthew chuckled. "I only live at the palace part time. My actual house is… well it's more like a small cottage with a vegetable patch. It's not that fancy but I have some old clothes you might be able to fit into."

Gilbert smiled a little. "Thanks… The sooner I'm out of this dress the better."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Francis chuckled a little as he watched Gilbert and Matthew leave from one of the upstairs windows. "Ah, young love." He muttered. "Reminds me of us before you went bat shit."

"Shut it frog." Snapped Arthur. He too was watching Gilbert and Matthew leave. "I'm surprised that you let that rabbit of yours run off with the likes of him."

"He is Matthew's beloved." Said Francis simply. "Besides my heart has always belonged to another… You on the other hand have your own messy love life to deal with. I've seen the way Alfred looks at you and the way you lust after him with your blue eye. It makes me sick."

Arthur growled darkly. "It's not my bloody fault you bastard! I fucking hate him, I can't do anything about him!"

"You could at least try to control your blood lust." Snapped Francis. "Arthur, I love you but I really despise that other half of you… What is it called again? Oliver?"

Arthur huffed and crossed his arms. "Yes, Oliver is a bloody pain. He continuously blocks me out when he sees fit and leaves me wondering what mischief he's gotten up to the next day." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't even want to know what he's done to Alfred when he blocks me out…"

"But you have an idea." Muttered Francis. "This leaves you conflicted doesn't it? You love me but you also love Alfred."

"Shut up." Hissed Arthur. "I bloody hate this, because on him I'm completely batty. It's annoying and I hate it. I hate him so much."

Francis smiled and put his hand on Arthur's shoulder. "Don't think about that stuff at the moment. None of that is important tonight. Let's just go down stairs and dance… I don't care that you feel the same way about Alfred as you do about me. I just want you to be happy."

Arthur rolled his eyes. "You're a bloody twat sometimes."

"I know." Said Francis with a smile. Now wasn't a time to worry about the bad things in life. Tonight was a time to celebrate and have fun. Everyone could worry about the other stuff tomorrow.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yep, so there's 2P nonsense going on with Arthur, plot hints have been dropped left right and centre. Please review!


	7. Cottage

**Shinigami-cat: **Well, I don't really have much to say here except I regret nothing also… I OWN NOTHING!

**Cottage**

Gilbert could help but be a little worried about going to Matthew's house late at night, but he brushed that fear aside. It was childish to feel that way about those fears. He was pretty sure that Matthew wouldn't do anything like that to him.

As they walked down the path it became darker and darker. Gilbert was worried that he wouldn't be able to see. Just when he thought everything was going to go pitch black a small light appeared in the distance. It got larger as it got closer until Gilbert could clearly see what it was. It looked like a lamp post, but it had a foot at the base and a hand at the top holding an oil lamp. It hopped over to the pair and stood there. When they caught up to it, the lamp would hop a few paces ahead and wait for them to catch up.

"What's this thing?" Asked Gilbert curiously.

Matthew chuckled. "It's just a street lamp. They hops along the paths at night looking for people to help. During the day you'll find random oil lamps all around the place. It's pretty cool."

Gilbert nodded in agreement. The walking lamp was pretty cool. "Yeah…"

As they continued to walk along with the hopping lamp they came across a cottage. The roof was made of straw, the walls were covered in some kind of white plaster and there was a large vegetable patch near the white picket fence. It was quite nice.

"So you live here?" He asked.

Matthew nodded and walked over to the front door, opening it. "Yep. It's a nice place to live, I hardly ever stay the night here though… Lately I've been staying at doing a lot more work for Francis so…"

Gilbert shrugged and followed Matthew inside. His house was modestly decorated like that of the outside. It was pretty cool. He liked it. Gilbert smiled a little and followed Matthew into the kitchen.

The blond was looking though his cupboard that seemed to be stocked with nothing but bottles of some kind of brown liquid. As he was looking through it, Gilbert couldn't help but watch Matthew's tale twitch slightly as he moved. It was almost hypnotizing to watch it twitch. Gilbert was almost tempted to reach out and squeeze it.

He shook those thoughts out of his mind. '_What the hell is wrong with me? I'm going crazy or something._'

Suddenly Matthew turned around with a bottle of the brown liquid and two cups. "Want a drink?"

Gilbert raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

Matthew chuckled a little and poured the liquid into two cups and passed one to Gilbert. "It's called maple ale, it's just like maple syrup but it isn't as think. Still just as sweet though."

"Never had maple syrup before." Muttered Gilbert.

Matthew raised an eyebrow. "Really? People usually have it with pancakes… I'm sure you'll like it."

Gilbert sniffed the liquid a little before lifting it up to his lips and taking a quick sip. In one moment he was transported to an old memory. He had tasted it a long time ago with an old friend.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The boy in the hospital bed smiled and quickly signed to Gilbert that he was eating pancakes with maple syrup. Gilbert titled his head in confusion. "What's maple syrup?"

The boy smiled and quickly signed for Gilbert to try what he was eating. He quickly added that the medication he was on made it hard for him to keep his food down, so it was fine for him to eat some of his food.

Gilbert frowned a little. He knew the boy was sick, very sick and he didn't want to take his food from him, but he just seemed like he really wanted Gilbert to try some. He cut off a bit of pancake and dipped it into the maple syrup. He ate it and grinned.

"This is awesome!" He cried out. "This is the best ever! Maple syrups it the best food ever!"

The boy in the bed chuckled silently, but soon his expression changed into one that seemed a little distressed and quickly signed something so fast that Gilbert almost didn't catch it.

The albino frowned a little. "Huh? Why would you be scared? Are you worried about your operation?" The boy nodded and touched his throat. Gilbert didn't need to know sign language to know what the boy was worried about. He smiled sympathetically. "Hey, it's okay. There's a high success rate for this kind of operation. Who knows? You might even be able to talk again. I'd love to hear what you actually sound like."

The boy on the bed smiled brightly at that and nodded enthusiastically. Gilbert grinned. He loved it when he could make the other boy smile. It always made him feel warm inside. He was eagerly waiting for the day when he could hear him speak again.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert shook his head. '_What the hell? Why can't I remember that boys face and since when did I learn sign language? It makes no sense! Must have been some weird dream I had ages ago… remembering random things at random times is kind of my speciality…_'

"Are you okay?" Asked Matthew. He was sitting on the bench drinking his weird maple drink. "You seem conflicted."

Gilbert shook his head. "It's nothing… really…" He drank more of the strange, sweet liquid. It tasted to much like maple syrup, but less sticky. It was weird but he liked it. He still couldn't shake the odd feeling that he was missing something important. "Oh yeah! Pants!"

Matthew chuckled a little. "Okay, I'll help you out with that. I just thought that I would be nice and offer you a drink first… You can stay here for the night too if you want."

That sounded good to Gilbert. "Awesome. Sounds like a plan."

Matthew smiled a little and led Gilbert up to the second floor of the cottage. "Glad you think so, also some friendly advice; don't go outside at night. If you go outside at night you might get attacked… There are more than those lamps out there."

Gilbert frowned but didn't argue. He didn't stay out at night around this place. For all he knew Matthew was telling the truth. "Okay then…" They walked into a room stacked with boxes and other knick knacks. "… You have a lot of crap in here."

Matthew chuckled a little. "Yeah, I try to go through it sometimes, but I never have enough time… I think I have a box of old pants around here somewhere…" He started to look through the boxes on the floor. As he did this Gilbert was watching his tail twitch again.

'… _I know Alfred said that the tail was really sensitive… but it can't be that sensitive, can it?_' Against his better judgement Gilbert reached out and touched Matthew's tail.

The reaction was almost instant. Matthew jumped up into the air, knocking several boxes into the air. This caused them both to stumble backwards and fall over. In retrospect Gilbert should have expected something like that to happen.

Gilbert groaned a little and rubbed his head. His whole body hurt horribly but it wasn't so bad. What did feel a bad though was Matthew's face pressed right up against his crotch… Under the dress. Gilbert's face went bright red with both anger and embarrassment. "What the hell is wrong with you? Piss off!" Gilbert punched the offending rabbit in the head in an attempt to make him move.

Instead of moving something very different happened, Matthew started to nuzzle Gilbert's vital regions. "You smell good..." He muttered softly.

Gilbert's blush went insanely dark, to the point where it was several shades darker than his blood red eyes. "What the hell are you doing?" His voice came out as more of a whimper than the strong and demanding tone he was going for.

Matthew chuckled a little. "Sorry Gilbert… But I don't think I can stop myself now…" Gilbert felt Matthew's fingers hook under the elastic of his bloomers and pull them down to his ankles.

Gilbert gasped and grabbed Matthew by his rabbit ears, yanking him up. "NO!" He yelled. "NO! NO! NO! NO! FUCKING KNEW THIS WAS AN EXCUSE TO GET INTO MY PANTS!" He kicked Matthew in the chest and quickly jumped up and ran down the stairs.

He could hear Matthew following him. "Gil, wait! I'm sorry! There are monsters out there!"

"I'd rather take my chances with them you pervert!" Snapped Gilbert as he dashed out of the cottage.

When he thought he was far enough away he collapsed next to a tree. It was at that point he realized his bloomers fell off, so he was now running around the forest at night with no undies. '_… Fuck. Stupid rabbit. Stupid everything. I fucking hate it here… Everyone here is a pervert. Shit someone's going to rape me, I just know it… Fuck, what if Matthew shows up again? Damn it!_'

His life just went from bad to worse ever since he woke up in this land. He could feel tear drops starting to form in the corners of his eyes. He did his best to blink them back, but it was almost impossible. He just wanted to go home and talk to his brother. Was that too much to ask?

He breathed in shakily. '_Damn it… I hate it here… I fucking hate it here… How the fuck did I even get here anyway? Why can't I remember anything before that stupid dream? What's wrong with me?_'

Gilbert clutched his head as it started to pound painfully. "Shit… Why does it hurt when I try to remember?" He took a few deep breaths trying to calm himself down. It was working, just. He sighed softly and extended his legs looking down at his socks. They had a few holes in them now from where they had caught on branches and twigs. He had a few scrapes and cuts, but he was okay.

He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. He just needed to relax and think of where to go now. He would have to deal with his memories later. Suddenly something grabbed his arm forcing Gilbert out of his thoughts. Looking down at him were several creatures coloured black with gaping white mouths and emotionless white eyes.

"Oh shit…" Whispered Gilbert breathlessly.

One of the creatures raised their claws high into the air ready to strike. Gilbert gulped and pulled his arms up over his face in a feeble attempt to protect himself. He felt the creatures claws fly past his arms as something pulled it back.

He opened his eyes again and was shocked to see Matthew standing in front of him growling like a wild animal. "Leave us." He hissed." The creatures slowly turned and walked away, growling slightly back at Matthew as they did so. He turned around and crouched next to Gilbert. All elements that would have made him beastly softened considerably. "Are you okay?"

Gilbert nodded and held his dress down firmly. "Why did you follow me?"

"I didn't want you to get hurt…" Said Matthew, his ears drooped sadly as he looked away. "I… I'm sorry about what happened… I shouldn't have… I have no excuse… Well not one that sounds reasonable anyway…"

Gilbert frowned a little. "Alfred told me about your kind… Your ears and tail are apparently very sensitive… I just didn't realize you were that fucking sensitive!"

Matthew blushed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry… If you want to go back to the palace I understand fully… I shouldn't have… I'm so sorry…"

"I don't even know where it is from here." Muttered Gilbert. He sighed in defeat. "I'll go back to your place, but if you try to pull a stunt like that again I will kill you!"

Matthew's ears perked up and he nodded quickly, a joyful smile plastered to his face. "Okay! I promise I won't do anything like that again! Please don't worry! I promise things will be better… Do you want to tie my blazer around your waist? You dress is pretty badly torn…" He took of his blazer and handed it over to Gilbert.

Gilbert blushed and looked down at the dress, there was a huge gash in it running up one side. Did those creatures do that to him? Gilbert quickly took it and tied it around his waist. "What were those things?"

Matthew sighed a little and helped Gilbert to his feet. "We call them Night-terrors. They lurk in the shadows at night and attack those who are alone… They are murderers. Ivan's job is to capture them and to take them back to the Cold Lair where they freeze, unable to escape." He frowned a little. "If they touch you, you can get plagued by terrible nightmares that never leave you… They didn't touch you did they?"

Gilbert shook his head. "No. I'm fine… What about you?"

"I'll live." Said Matthew with a smile on his face. "Come on. Let's go." He held Gilbert's hand as they walked back to his cottage. Surprisingly Gilbert didn't feel anxious or pissed off that Matthew was touching him. He was calm and relaxed. It was odd, but he liked it. It made him feel safe, though he would never admit that to Matthew.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The Night-terrors gathered in a clearing where Ivan was waiting. He frowned at them. "You didn't get the Alice? You creatures only had one job… Failing the task I give you means that you should get punished, da?"

The Night-terrors cowered in fear as Ivan's smile stretched further across his face than humanly possible. The seams on his face started to split and snap revealing hundreds of razor sharp, diamond shaped teeth. He breathed in deeply, causing the creatures to get sucked into his mouth, like they were made of air.

Once the creatures were inhaled he chuckled and pulled on the broken string on his face. "Looks like I need to visit Mr Fix again da?" He chuckled and disappeared off into the night. If he didn't return to the party soon people might get suspicious, and he couldn't have that now could he?

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **… I really need to stop ending chapters like this… Please review!


	8. Stupid Cupcake

**Shinigami-cat: **Hey everyone! Lots of people have been saying that Ivan's the bad guy, but he's not, honestly! I just see him as a super creep that does his job… I OWN NOTHING!

**Stupid Cupcake**

Gilbert woke up in Matthew's bed, the rabbit in question had slept on the couch that night giving Gilbert some privacy. It was nice of him to do so. Gilbert got up and took off the dress, he was too tired to change into anything else last night, and got changed into some clothes Matthew had left out for him. A pair of black jeans and a green shirt. He quickly pulled them on and waked down stairs.

"Hey Matthew!" He called. "You awake yet?"

Matthew was gone. Gilbert frowned a little at this and walked into the kitchen. On the bench was a stack of pancakes, a bottle of maple syrup and a note. Gilbert frowned a little and picked up the note.

_So sorry Gilbert. Francis wanted me to help with cleaning up the palace. I'll be back as soon as possible. I made you something to eat of you get hungry, but feel free to leave if you want… Just try to find a place to stay at night if you go exploring today._

Gilbert sighed and ate the pancakes. He wanted to talk to Matthew more about those Night-terrors. He sighed a little and thought back to that night. Now that he thought about it, he realized that he wasn't as afraid of them as he originally was. It was weird.

He shrugged it off and decided to have a look around Matthew's house instead. He never said he couldn't. He decided to go upstairs and start there. He would work his way back down eventually. He decided to start in Matthew's room. If there was anything interesting it would probably be in there.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew was exhausted. He had been running around and around in circles most of the day between the palace and Arthur's house. He really wished that they could use carrier pigeons for their stupid mail. It seems as though any bad blood between them was finally starting to fade away.

'_Maple… I wonder how Alfred's taking this?_' He wondered to himself as he made his way through Arthur's garden again. He had known for a long time that Alfred liked Arthur, but this development between the two might make things difficult. But Alfred wasn't a child. He knew what he was getting himself into… hopefully.

He frowned a little. If Alfred really cared about Arthur he would probably do something really stupid. He hated to admit it, but he might need to ask Ivan for help.

It didn't take him too long to find Arthur, he was sitting in the garden drinking his tea. "Hello rabbit. I have another letter for you to give Francis."

"Of course you do…" Muttered Matthew under his breath. He handed a letter over to Arthur. "Couldn't you give it to Alfred? I have a few other things I need to do today…"

Arthur frowned a little. "Fine… Have you tried those cupcakes yet? I did make them for you, you know."

"Those purple ones?" Asked Matthew. "Haven't had time. I'm always running around trying to deliver Francis's mail and take mail back to him." His ears drooped slightly. "I haven't had any time to myself before last night at the party…"

"Fine. Be on your way." Muttered Arthur. Matthew grinned brightly and started to walk away when Arthur called out to him. "Just eat those cupcakes before they turn purple! If they're purple they've gone off!"

"Got it Arthur." Said Matthew happily. If that was all he needed to do, besides talk to Ivan, today was going to be a good day. Perhaps he could take Gilbert to the circus. That is unless he had already left. The rabbit was so caught up in his own thoughts he didn't even realize he was colliding with someone until it was too late. He bounced off said person's chest and fell flat on his fluffy tail. "Ouch!"

Said Person he bumped into was kind enough to help him back up. "Hello Matthew." He said in a childish voice.

Matthew looked up into Ivan's purple eyes and smiled nervously. Ivan wasn't a bad person, he just intimidated the hell out of the smaller blond. "Hey Ivan. I was just looking for you."

"And I you." Said Ivan with a creepy smile on his face. "But you first."

Matthew cleared his throat nervously. "Well… I think Alfred might do something stupid again because Arthur and Francis seem to be rekindling their love."

"How is this my problem?" Asked Ivan.

"I was wondering if you could watch him for me…" Muttered Matthew quietly. "I just don't want him to hurt himself… Could you do that for me please?"

Ivan shrugged. "Okay. I can do that… Now for what I wanted to talk to you about. Last night a few of my Night-terrors didn't catch a certain albino… You wouldn't have anything to do with that would you?"

"No I would not." Said Matthew, keeping his poker face on. It was common knowledge that Ivan used several Night-terrors to collect others to be moved on to the next life.

"Let's cut the crap." Said Ivan. "I want Gilbert."

"You can't have him."

"He was supposed to leave here last night."

"I beg to differ."

"My Night-terrors should have caught him."

"Should have sent stronger henchmen."

Ivan chuckled. "You really are something Matthew… You know what will happen to Gilbert if he stays for too much longer."

"I know." Said Matthew calmly. "I want him to stay here."

Ivan frowned, all childishness was done from his face. "Staying here for longer than he needs to will be damaging to him. Both physically and mentally. I'm only thinking of his wellbeing." He sighed a little and ran his fingers through his hair. "I never should have let you drink from that spring…"

Matthew glared at Ivan. He would not let himself get intimidated by that man. "Well you did, and it doesn't matter what happens. I'm not letting you take him away from me again!"

"Again?" Asked Ivan with a smirk. "What do you mean again? You've only met Gilbert here haven't you?"

Matthew growled a little and walked past him. "Just take care of Alfred for me. I've got other things I need to do."

Ivan chuckled. "Maybe you should tell Feliks that Gilbert's dress got ripped? He would be very upset to find out that his handy work got ruined… You shouldn't have made him cry." Matthew took a deep breath and started running. He wouldn't let Ivan's taunts get to him. No matter how true they might be.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It was around midday when Gilbert had finished exploring Matthew's house and he was getting hungry again. Hoping to find more pancakes he opened up the fridge and looked inside. There were several jars of that sweet maple ale and a plate of purple cupcakes.

'… _It's not like he'll miss just one of them._' Thought the albino. Gilbert picked up a cupcake and looked down at the writing on it. In bright green letters were the words _Eat Me._

Not being one to pass up awesome looking food he bit into it. It tasted good. It was a vanilla cupcake with berry icing. It was awesome. He quickly downed the cupcake and went to the lounge room. There were still some places he hadn't properly searched yet.

He looked under the coffee table to see if there was anything there. As he reached under to grab a basket that was under there when he noticed that his shirt had become a little tighter. He brushed it off and took out the basket. It was filled with cotton, scraps of fabric and sowing needles. He chuckled at the thought of Matthew sowing like an old lady in his down time.

Gilbert tugged on his collar a little. "Fuck… Why is this thing getting tighter…? Oh fuck! Why is everything getting smaller?" For some reason he was starting to grow faster and faster. In a matter of seconds he had become as big as the room and in another minute he was practically wearing the house with his arms sticking out the upstairs windows and he one leg out the front door and another leg out the side door. "… I blame everyone else but me for this. How the fuck am I going to get out of here?"

Almost as if on cue Matthew came back. "My house!" He cried in shock. "Those cupcakes were off! Why did you eat them?"

"Firstly, I didn't know they were off." Growled Gilbert. "Secondly, what the hell's going to happen to me now?"

Matthew pouted and jumped onto Gilbert's leg. "Well… You stay here for a bit and I'll go get Feliks. He might be able to help out with this.. or at least make you some giant pants." He hopped off Gilbert's leg and quickly dashed off to find Feliks.

Gilbert sighed. '_Perfect…_' He though bitterly. '_I'm a fucking giant. Yay me… On the plus side I can finally play professional basketball… And I'm pretty sure my five meter's is now more like ten…_'

Eventually Matthew returned with Feliks who was just grinning from ear to ear. "You're like right! He's totally a giant!"

"Shut up and help me!" Snapped Gilbert. Being stuck inside that cottage was pissing him off to no end. He should have just left those cupcakes alone. Cupcakes are nothing but trouble.

Feliks sighed and quickly looked the house over. "Like… maybe if you eat something? That, like usually helps with this… Anyone have any food?"

Matthew nodded and quickly pulled some carrots out of his garden. "Maybe this will help?"

Gilbert sighed and picked Matthew up by the back of his jacket. He easily lifted him into the air and towards a window where the blond could throw the carrots into his mouth. "Just throw them in." He said before opening his mouth.

"Okay." Said Matthew. He tossed the carrots into Gilbert's mouth.

As soon as Gilbert swallowed the change was almost immediate. He shrunk back down to normal size, but it didn't stop there. He shrank down to the size of a mouse. "Fucking hell!" Growled the albino. This growing and shrinking thing did not amuse him in the slightest.

Gilbert sighed and stood up, realizing immediately that he was now butt naked. He face palmed. It did make sense. His clothes did get ripped to pieces when he turned into a giant.

Suddenly a dark shadow loomed over him, making the mouse sized albino jump. Standing over him were Feliks and Matthew. "He's like a tiny naked mouse." Cooed Feliks.

"Shut up!" Snapped Gilbert. "You idiots turned me into a fucking mouse sized person! Now change me back!"

Feliks shrugged and picked up some fabric from the floor. He started to cut and trim it. "I think you like, need to talk to Yao on this one or like, go see Mr Fix."

"I guess…" Muttered Matthew. "I'd rather see Yao first though…"

"Yeah, that like sounds like a better." Said Feliks. He dropped the fabric he was cutting at Gilbert's feet. He had made a black shirt and green overalls out of the fabric on the ground. "You should like, cover up a little."

Gilbert rolled his eyes and pulled on the clothes. Surprisingly they fitted perfectly on him. "Thanks for the clothes…"

"Anytime." Said Feliks. He looked around the destroyed house and sighed. "Well, I'm like going to see Toris. Today's like my one day off." He turned and happily left the building.

Gilbert looked around the house and gulped nervously. He had pretty much destroyed the whole place. "Sorry…"

Matthew smiled and knelt down next to Gilbert. "It's okay. Arthur said that those cupcakes might have gone off by now… I'm just glad that you're okay… I was thinking about redecorating anyway." He picked Gilbert up and smiled. "Let's take you to Yao."

"Put me down!" Cried Gilbert. "I will not be man handled!"

Matthew sighed and put Gilbert in his blazer pocket. "Don't' worry Gilbert. You'll be back to normal size soon."

Gilbert huffed as he looked out of the pocket. He didn't like being put in someone's pocket for any reason. Instead he just randomly started to play with a bit of string he found in the pocket to amuse himself.

He felt Matthew shift slightly as he stood up, then out of nowhere there was extreme G-force as Matthew started running. Gilbert gulped and pulled himself down into the pocket. To pass the time he continued to play with the string, pulling it and twisting it until something horrible happened. The bottom of Matthew's pocket opened up and Gilbert fell out.

With a surprised cry Gilbert flew through the air and landed with a small thump on the grass. He looked up just in time to see Matthew disappearing down the path.

"Son of a bitch…" Muttered Gilbert as he rolled onto his stomach. "Just perfect. I'm the size of a mouse and in the middle of nowhere… Thank you whoever is up there! My life could not get any weirder and crappier!"

He sighed and dusted himself off. Perhaps he could find a butterfly or something like that and fly off. That would be nice.

"Kesesesesesese!" Chuckled a female voice. "What's this?"

"Looks like someone's a little lost!"

"What kind of flower is he?"

"What garden does he come from?"

"Do you suppose he's a wild flower?"

"What is he?"

"Hello?" Called Gilbert. "My name is Gilbert? Who the hell is that?"

"Ever seen a Gilbert with a blossom like that?

"No fragrance at all!"

"Such scrawny stems!"

"I think he's pretty…"

"Quiet bud."

"Maybe he's a common weed?

"We don't want weeds in our bed!"

"Get him out! Get him out!"

Gilbert frowned and raised an eyebrow. "… Let me guess… Talking flowers?" He shook his head. "Whatever. I'm out of here." He started to walk down the pink path. Hopefully if he kept walking Matthew would realize Gilbert had fallen out and come back for him.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **… Please review?


	9. Flowers, Friends and Bottles

**Shinigami-cat: **I really hope that poor old Gilbert doesn't get stepped on! Poor dead's the size of a mouse! Be warned there is Nyotalia in this chapter… Anyway… I OWN NOTHING!

**Flowers, Friends and Bottles**

As Gilbert continued to walk along the edge of the pink path he could hear the flowers talking about him but not to him. In any other place this would be seen as very odd, but apparently here it was normal, along with bread and butterflies.

"His completion is so pail…"

"Think he's related to those lazy little lilies? Those lazy things are always floating about on the water like they own the whole pond!"

"Perhaps he's a kind of rose? Those fellas have got a lot to answer for!"

"Oh pardon me you nymphet snap dragon! I've seen you cross pollenating with those violets! Don't get all high and mighty with me!"

"SHUT UP!" Snapped Gilbert. "WHO GIVES A FUCK ABOUT WHO CROSS POLINATED WITH WHAT? JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP!" If those flowers didn't shut up soon he would rip out all their petals. He also made a decision that if he ever had a garden he would never plant flowers. The whole place was going to be concrete.

"Keseseseseses! That's showing them!" Laughed a woman's voice. "You're alright. In fact, you're pretty awesome! Almost as awesome as me!"

Gilbert felt like gasping in shock. "Excuse me, but if anything you are almost as awesome as me! Not the other way around!" An acorn collided with the back of his head. "The fuck?" He turned around and saw a large white rose holding an acorn in one of the leafs attached to its stem, and if Gilbert wasn't mistaken it was giving him the finger.

"Come at me bro!" Snarled the rose.

Gilbert growled and marched right up to the flower. "What's your problem?"

"You insulted my awesomeness!" Cried the flower. "I need to protect my honour! So have at thee!" She threw another acorn at Gilbert. This time he dodged it, but he didn't dodge the walnut the followed.

"Bitch you are crazy!" Snapped Gilbert.

"Don't be mean to him." Cooed a red rose.

The white rose pouted. "Leave me alone! I'm defending my honour! This most unawesome brat must pay!"

The red rose sighed a little. "Don't take it so personally… Julchen is quite aggressive when it come to her awesomeness. I'm Françoise by the way… You said your name was Gilbert before, right?"

Gilbert nodded. "Ja, do all you flowers talk? Because nothing and I mean nothing could surprise me at this point in time."

Françoise chuckled a little. "Yes we do. Most people don't hear us though… Well the mice do hear us, but we don't really talk to them much. They can be quite annoying from time to time."

"Fair enough." Muttered Gilbert. "Do you know how to get to Yao's place? My ride kind of ran off without me and I don't think he's coming back anytime soon."

"Just continue up the path and take the first right when you get to the first fork in the road." Said Julchen.

Gilbert nodded. "Thanks. See you two around some time then." He started to walk back up the path. The sooner he found Matthew the better. This place was a little creepy when he was so small.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sighed in exhaustion and collapsed next to a large rock… In reality it was probably just a large stone… He also probably only waled a few feet. Life as a mouse sucked.

"I… I need… need some wheels or something…" He muttered. Hopefully he wouldn't be the size of a mouse forever. He still needed to get back home to his brother.

'_My brother…_' He thought to himself. '_Damn it… he must be so worried about me. I've been away for so long… I'm sure that… Wait a second, why can't I remember his name?_' Gilbert's eyes went wide with shock. '_What's my brother's name? What is it? Oh no… What does he look like? What's his hair colour? What's his eye colour? I can't remember!_' He was starting to panic, but he took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"No… It must have been because that flower hit me in the head with an acorn. I'll remember soon… I have to remember soon…" He didn't really believe his own words. It was just nice to hear something besides his own panicked heartbeat. "Fuck, why am I getting so worked up about this anyway?"

He sighed and shook his head. It was ridiculous how worked up he was getting over nothing. Only unawesome get worked up over things like that, and Gilbert was nothing but pure awesome. He would not get worked up by nothing important. He sighed and closed his eyes. Today was too stressful for him to deal with.

Suddenly a shadow loomed over him. "Oh, you're the Alice aren't you? How did you get so small?"

Gilbert opened his eyes and jumped. Standing above him was a very busty woman with rabbit ears. "Holy hell! Don't scare me like that! And my name is Gilbert!"

"Sorry!" Said the woman quickly. She crouched down next to Gilbert and smiled a little. "My name is Katyusha. I am the Snow Rabbit. It's nice to meet you. I didn't get to last night."

Gilbert sighed a little and stood up. Katyusha seemed like a nice person. "Sorry about that… I really hated that dress I was forced to wear."

"I agree…" Muttered Katyusha. "My traditional wear is a dress made from fur… I was sweating horribly before the end of the first dance." The both sighed at their choses of outfits. "So… Why are you out here and why are you so small?"

"Cupcakes." Said Gilbert. "Cupcakes are evil."

"One of Arthur's cupcakes went off and you ate it didn't you." Said Katyusha. She smiled a little. "Those things are nothing but trouble when they are off. They have the most random effects on people. It can make them shrink, grown an extra head, turn green and a whole bunch of other things."

Gilbert's eyes went wide. "What does he put in them? Toxic waste?"

"I wouldn't be surprised." She said. "… So are you on your way to Mr Fix or Yao?"

"Matthew was taking me to see Yao, but I fell out of his pocket." Said Gilbert with a frown.

Katyusha gasped in shock. "Matthew dropped you? Maybe I should take you to see Mr Fix? He'll be able to help you out easily. He's fixed others that were way worse off then you. What do you say?"

Gilbert thought this over. Matthew would probably freak when he found out that he was gone and would try to look for him, but if he was back to normal it would be so much easier. "Yeah, sure. Let's go!"

Katyusha grinned and picked Gilbert up. She contemplated where to put him before placing him in her breast pocket. It was an extremely tight fit. Gilbert was practically pinned to her chest, but he wasn't complaining. At least her breasts were real. He didn't think he could stand being pressed up against silicon rocks for ages.

"Are you comfortable?" She asked.

Gilbert nodded enthusiastically. "Ja! Your boobs are really soft."

Katyusha blushed. "I um…"

"I meant it as a compliment!" Said Gilbert quickly. "I didn't mean it as a creepy thing, though looking back now I can see how it could have been seen as something bad!"

Katyusha sighed a little and shook her head. "It's fine… I just didn't expect you to say that…" She pouted a little as she looked around. "Let's see… Mr Fix lives in the middle and we are a few paces right of the centre… Okay I got this!"

She started to run down the path as fast as she could. This was a very good way to travel in Gilbert's opinion. This way he knew he wasn't going to fall out of her pocket, he wasn't getting bounced around randomly and he kind of liked the soft, natural cushioning provided.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew arrived outside Yao's place and knocked on his door. Kiku was the once to answer him. With a polite smile he ushered Matthew into the house and into the sitting room here Yao was calmly sitting down, drinking his tea.

"The White Rabbit." He said with a small smile. "What might that Hatter want from me today? Perhaps he has run out of some dandelion tea?"

Matthew shook his head. "No. This time it's Gilbert. He ate one of Arthur's cupcakes that went off and he turned into a giant, but then he ate some carrots and shrank down to the size of a mouse."

Yao chuckled and took a small bottle out of his pocket, handing it to Matthew. "Just get Gilbert to drink this and he'll be back to normal in a matter of second."

Matthew happily too the bottle. "This great, isn't it Gil? … Gilbert?" He reached into his pocket and gasped in shock and horror. There was a hole in his pocket. "Oh no! He must have fallen out!"

"Perhaps it would be wise to look for him?" Suggested Yao. "Kiku can help you if you wish."

Matthew shook his head and put the bottle into his breast pocket. "Thanks, but I don't wish to waste your time. You've done enough for me already." He quickly dashed out of the house to try and find Gilbert.

Kiku sighed a little as he sat next to Yao, picking up his own cup of tea. "Matthew-kun seems to have his head in the clouds more and more these days. It's almost like he's in a world of his own…"

Yao chuckled a little and drank some tea. "If I had a world of my own everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't."

Kiku frowned a little. "Pardon Yao-san?"

Yao smiled as he looked into his cup. "Gilbert, poor boy, poor soul… A world outside of time… Chased the rabbit and drank the wine… Locked inside limbo to see how his life turns out… No one can ever hurt you, or so they say. Now off with his head. There is no real end. It'll always just be a new beginning… This whole world could be brought down with one thought." He sighed a little and drank some more tea.

"Yao-san?"

Yao put his cup back onto his table and smiled warmly at Kiku. "Contrary wise, what it is it wouldn't be, and what it wouldn't be it would. You see?"

"… I do not understand." Said Kiku. "I'm sorry Yao-san, but you are not making any sense to me."

"It's okay Kiku." Said Yao with a small smile. "There are things in this world that we , meaning you, don't understand but others, me, do understand. At the same time there are a great many things that we, meaning you, understand but others, me, do not understand. It's all to do with the way we see the world… I fear that Matthew is seeing this world in a way he shouldn't."

Kiku titled his head in confusion. "I see… Sort of… But why is the way Matthew sees the world important?"

Yao thought for a moment. Trying to think of a way to word what he wanted to say. "Well… Ivan, Mr Fix and I are some of the oldest of beings in this world. As such we have certain duties and tasks we need to perform in order for this world to keep working… Matthew is thinking on the same wave length as us three now and it could have disastrous consequences for Gilbert."

"Gilbert-kun?"

"Yes…" Yao sighed softly and gazed blankly out the open window. "It's not something that we wish to keep from you all, it's just part of the rules. None of us here really care for those rules, but we follow and trust them fully because we have no choice. If Matthew doesn't realize this soon Gilbert could be put in danger…"

Kiku looked at Yao in shock. "But… We're not allowed to harm the Alice."

"I know." Said Yao sadly. "Harming the Alice is punishable by expulsion from this world… I hope Matthew can face the consequences for his actions when the time comes…" He picked up the teapot and frowned. "Could you please make me some more tea?"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **At least he finally realized that he lost Gilbert… Please review!


	10. The Tower

**Shinigami-cat: **So anyway, the other night on the news there was something about an American and a Canadian trying to smuggle drugs into Australia and the first thing I thought was what the hell did Alfred convince Matthew to do now? So here's the next chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**The Tower**

It didn't take long for Katyusha and Gilbert to reach the house of Mr Fix. To Gilbert it seemed more like a tower than anything. It stretched high into the sky, surrounded by trees that seemed almost as tall. The tower was made from black tones and to was covered in creeping vines. It was creepy, but he kind of liked it.

Katyusha smiled a little and opened up the iron door. The inside of the tower gave off a doomed vibe. It was scary, but at the same time it seemed okay. The only sound that could be heard was Katyusha's feet as they tapped along the hallway and down the stone steps.

At they continued Gilbert started to hear sound of something scarping or maybe grinding? Either way it sounded like metal against metal to him. It was a little creepy.

The soon came to another door and Katyusha knocked before opening it. "Hello? Mr Fix? Can I please have your help?"

The room was made out of grey stone, there were about seven metal tables off to one side, ready for surgery, medical equipment was handing of one wall, medicines were on a shelf on the other side of the room and near that a work bench. Sitting at the work bench was the black cloaked Mr Fix.

Katyusha smiled a little and walked over to him. "Hello, I was wondering if you could please have a look at Gilbert… He's shrunk." She took Gilbert out of her pocket and put him on the bench.

Gilbert stretched a little and looked up at Mr Fix. His hood was down so he couldn't see his face, but the strange thing was he couldn't even make out his face structure at all. It was like everything inside the cloak was just black. Swallowed up by darkness. It was a little scary.

"Hey there, tall dark and scary." Said Gilbert. "Mind making me normal sized again? I'd appreciate it." Mr Fix nodded and started to write down a few things on a piece of paper.

Katyusha smiled happily and clapped her hands. "Well I need to keep working, so I'll see you two around sometime." She turned and walked off. "Don't forget to tell him if there's anything else wrong with you, and I'll tell Matthew where you are when I seem him again."

"Okay!" Called Gilbert as he waved goodbye to her. When she was gone he sat down and looked up at Mr Fix. "So… Can you really fix anything?"

Mr Fix seemed to be looking down at Gilbert and nodded. This was good enough for Gilbert. He watched as Mr Fix stood up and walked over to the shelf of medicine. He picked up a bottle and walked back to Gilbert. It was such a small bottle, no bigger than the size of thimble.

Gilbert took the bottle and frowned. "Do you want me to drink this?" Mr Fix nodded. "Will it turn me back to normal?" Mr Fix nodded again. "Will it turn me back straight away?" Mr Fix shook his head. "Oh… Do I just wait a few minutes or something? Do you have any spare clothes?" Mr Fix nodded for both those things.

Gilbert sighed and opened the bottle, drinking the clear liquid inside. It tasted really sweet. Once he was done Mr Fix picked him up and took him to a different room. He put him in a room with a bed, placing him on the mattress.

Gilbert pouted. "So I just wait here until I'm back to normal size or something?" Mr Fix nodded and walked back out of the room, locking it. Gilbert sighed and made himself comfortable. While he was here he might as well try to catch some sleep.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When Mr Fix left Gilbert he went back to what he was doing before. He sat down at his work bench and started to cut small pieces of metal again. He needed the parts to be small, if they weren't they would never be able to fit inside his throat, and if it never did that he would never be able to speak.

'_Why is it so difficult to make a voice box?_' Me thought bitterly to himself. '_I can't stand this whole being mute thing… Life would be so much easier if I could speak._'

After twenty minutes of working he heard a knock at his door and Ivan walked in. He was gripping his shoulder with a small grimace on his face. "Would you mind stitching me up again? Natalia almost ripped off my arm again."

'_Of course she did…_' Thought Mr Fix. He gestured for Ivan to take off his coat and sit down. Ivan did just that as Mr Fix gathered his tools; a needle and thread. The wound on Ivan's arm wasn't too bad terrible. Natalia had only managed to rip three threads this time. A double stitch would easily fix the problem and hopefully prevent it from happening again.

Ivan smiled a little as Mr Fix did his work. When he was done he quickly flexed his arm to make sure that everything was in working order. When he was satisfied he nodded approvingly. "Da, good job… Oh, just before I forget if you ever see Gilbert send him my way. He's near his end."

Mr Fix tensed a little. '_Already? But he only just got here… Gilbert can't leave just yet._'

Ivan pulled on his coat and chuckled. "So you're like Matthew aren't you? Don't get angry because I'm doing my job. I rather like Gilbert, but you know the rules. He can't stay here forever. No Alice ever chooses to stay here… Besides you know what could happen to him if he stays for longer then he needs to."

Mr Fix crossed his arms. He knew Ivan was right. He was always right when it came to these kinds of things. '_Why does he have to be right? Why can't Gilbert just stay for a little while longer?_'

Ivan smiled childishly and turned to leave. Before he left and giggled a little. "I know you are attached to him, but remember he can't stay here forever… Not unless you want him to die."

A chill ran up the other's spine. He knew that what Ivan just said wasn't a threat. It was a promise. Others had evaded his capture before and died pretty horribly in the process. It wasn't Ivan himself who had killed them, they just died. For a moment he contemplated giving Gilbert up, but decided against it. Even if it was Ivan's job to help take the nearly dead to where they needed to go, Gilbert wasn't ready for that. He could feel it in his bones. He waved goodbye to Ivan and went back to work.

As he worked he couldn't help but occasionally glace over at door Gilbert was resting behind. '_… No, I'm sure another day or two won't make much off a difference… Gilbert is stronger than Ivan knows._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew was still in a panic as he searched frantically for Gilbert. He was so tiny he couldn't have gotten far. Many horrible thoughts went through his mind about the fate of the small albino. Worst case scenario he got squished under someone's foot or worse, Ivan got him.

That thought made him shudder. "No! He wouldn't have been picked up. I know it!" He got down on his hands and knees, starting to look through the shrubs and flowers. "Come on Gilbert! Don't mess around! Get out here please! I'm so sorry I dropped you! Please come out!"

He hated it when only the silence filled his ears. It was horrible. He felt horrible. He had lost Gilbert. It was awful. '_What if he's hurt? What if he broke an arm or a leg? This is horrible! I'm the worst person in the world!_' His cheeks started to become damp with tears. '_… I hate myself so much… So, so much…_'

"Are you okay Matthew?" Asked Katyusha softly. She crouched down next to Matthew and frowned a little. "Are you okay? Why are you crying? Do you need a hug?"

Matthew nodded and hugged Katyusha tightly, crying into her shoulder. "I-I dropped Gil-Gilbert!" He sobbed. "H-he hates me! He'll never want to see me again! I'll never be able to look him in the face again!"

Katyusha gently ran her fingers through his hair in a soothing manner. "It's okay, Gilbert is fine. I found him a while ago and we went to see Mr Fix. He was perfectly healthy when I last saw him… just tiny…"

Matthew's eyes went wide with shock. "Huh? Really?"

"Yes." Said Katyusha happily. She helped Matthew to his feet and gently ruffled his hair. "Don't worry. He's safe, a little pissed but safe."

Matthew smiled a little and nodded. "Okay… I-I'm going to go see if he's okay."

"That's good." Said Katyusha happily. She gently patted Matthew's back and grinned. "Why don't you go find him? I'm sure that he's back to normal."

"Yeah." Said Matthew happily. He started to quickly walked down the path before stopping suddenly. "It's the other way isn't it?"

Katyusha nodded. "Yep. Go the other way." Matthew blushed and turned the other way. Hopefully Gilbert would be back to normal when he next saw him, and hopefully he wouldn't be pissed off with him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

When Gilbert woke up he was sleeping naked on a bed. He sighed a bit and stretched. There were some clothes put out for him on the foot of the bed. He quickly pulled on the black pants and blue shirt. The shirt was a little baggy, but he didn't mind. He was happy to see that Mr Fix had also put out a pair of boots for him. He put them on and walked out the door. Mr Fix was sitting at his work bench again and surprisingly Feliciano was sitting on one of the metal surgical tables.

"Hey Feliciano, what are you doing here?" He asked.

Feliciano grinned and waved. "Ve, I just came over to see Mr Fix. He does some of the most interesting things! Why are you here?"

"Up until a few minutes ago I was the size of a mouse." Said Gilbert. "Nothing important… Oh yeah, I almost forgot!" He tapped Mr Fix on the shoulder. "You know how you said you could fix anything right? Well I have had a bit of a memory problem lately. I can't remember a few things… I've forgotten my little brother's name and even what he looks like. Do you have something for that?"

Mr Fix shook his head. Gilbert was disappointed, but not surprised that he had nothing he could give him. He probably just had a mild concussion anyway, not that having a concussion would make him feel much better.

Feliciano giggled a little as he swung his legs. "The size of a mouse… that must have been fun!"

"If you call falling out of someone's pocket and getting acorns thrown at you fun, then yes it was fun." Said Gilbert sarcastically.

"Sorry…" Muttered Feliciano quietly. He looked down at his feet, humming a little. "So… Have you been to the Carnival yet? I mean you've been to the Hatter's place and the Queen of heart's palace…"

Gilbert shrugged. "I guess I could grace that place with my awesome presence. What do you do there?"

Feliciano grinned and clapped his hands. "Ve, there are so many things! There are all the rides and the games and the circus! There's rollercoasters and shooting galleries and the game with the ball and the bottles and the traipse artists and the lions and the-"

Gilbert chuckled. "Calm down Feliciano, you're going to give yourself a heart attack at this rate."

Feliciano grinned. "It doesn't matter if I had one or not. Mr Fix would fix me. Isn't that right?" Mr Fix nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well that's good." Said Gilbert. "But you should take better care of yourself. If you actually died it would be bad."

"No one dies here." Said Feliciano. "There's no real concept of death here. You're either here or you're not. You're either here in this world or you've been expelled. No one here has really died ever."

Gilbert frowned a little. It was an interesting concept. To live in a world where death didn't really happen. You were either here or you weren't. He liked that idea. He would like it better if death never happened at all. In his opinion that would be the perfect world.

"Do you want a tissue?" Asked Feliciano.

"Why?"

Feliciano pointed to Gilbert's face. "You're crying a little. Did you get dirt in your eye?"

Gilbert frowned and touched his face. His cheeks were indeed a little damp. He wiped his face with the palm of his hands. He didn't even realize he was crying. It was weird. He seemed to be randomly doing weird stuff like that more and more lately. He couldn't understand why. It was so weird.

"I'm fine… I think." Muttered Gilbert. The whole random crying thing was weird to him.

Suddenly the door opened up again and Matthew ran in. He was panting heavily and his face was a little blotchy, like had had been crying. As soon as he saw Gilbert he launched himself at the albino, tackling him to the ground in a crushing hug. "I'm so sorry!" He cried. "I'm so sorry! Please forgive me! I was so worried about you! I thought you might have gotten hurt! I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to you!"

Gilbert gulped and tried to wiggle out of the rabbit's grip. "Sure, okay. I get it. I'm not mad… You can let me go anytime now…"

Matthew smiled and quickly got off Gilbert, helping him back to his feet. Tears were rolling down his cheeks. "Okay… I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll do anything you want and I mean anything. Anything at all."

"Ve, take him to the Carnival!" Cheered Feliciano happily. "It'll be fun and you two can play games and go on rides and see the evening circus performance!"

Matthew smiled a little. "That does sound like fun… What do you say Gilbert? Do you want to go to the Carnival with me?"

Gilbert shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Sounds fun."

Matthew was practically beaming. If his smile was any larger his face might break. "Okay! I promise you'll have the best time of your life."

Feliciano grinned and clapped his hands. "How wonderful. I hope your date works out well."

"OUR WHAT?" Cried Gilbert in shock. He did not expect Feliciano to say that at all. "WE ARE NOT DATING!"

Feliciano jumped in shock. "I'm sorry! My mistake! You two just… You seem really close to me, that's all. I didn't mean to offend…"

Gilbert growled a little. "Well we aren't together. If anything we're more like friends."

Matthew's ears twitched slightly as he smiled. "You consider us friends? Really?"

Gilbert groaned inwardly. "Yes." If Matthew was a dog his tail would be wagging. Before Matthew could utter another word Gilbert quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the room. "Later you two, don't do anything I wouldn't do, okay?"

"Okay! Bye-bye Gilbert and Matthew! Have fun!" Called Feliciano.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew smiled happily as Gilbert dragged him out of that tower. He was giddy with excitement and joy from Gilbert's words. '_You have no idea how happy you make me._' He thought to himself. '_I've never been good with words, so I'll show you how happy you make me feel… Hopefully that along with drinking your tears will be enough to atone from my sins…_'

When they got outside Gilbert let go of Matthew's arm. "Okay, so which way is this Carnival?"

Matthew thought for a second and pointed to the left. "That way."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Ja, left. Want to actually lead the way?"

Matthew chuckled a little and started walking with Gilbert following close behind. '_I won't let Ivan expel you from this world just yet. I still have to show you how sorry I am… I know you don't remember what I did, but that just means I have to work harder at making you happy._'

"You okay Matthew?" Asked Gilbert. "You seem a little spaced out and your ears are drooping a little…"

Matthew frowned a little. His ears were drooping a little. "It's nothing. I'm just thinking about stuff."

"Well stop thinking such depressing thoughts." Muttered Gilbert.

"How did you know I am thinking thoughts like that?" Asked Matthew curiously.

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "It's not that hard to figure out. Your ears droop when you're sad or upset about something. Think more positive thoughts. You look better with your ears up."

Matthew could feel his heart swell slightly in his chest. He smiled brightly. '_It's silly how just a few simple words from you can make me feel this way. I guess this is what they call love, right? I really do love you Gilbert._'

"Okay, there's seriously something wrong with you." Said Gilbert sternly. "You're acting all weird. Is this because you dropped me, because I'm fine with it. I don't really care."

Matthew chuckled a little. "Well, I'm still fretting over that but I have other things on my mind. Sorry if I worried you, I'll try to be more positive from now on." That wasn't a lie. Matthew was going to genuinely try to be happier around Gilbert from now on.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **There… another chapter done and dusted… Please review?


	11. Carnival

**Shinigami-cat: **So sorry! I accidently posted the wrong chapter here before! The other one was for my horror fan fiction I was writing, not this story! I'm sorry! I really am… I OWN NOTHING!

**Carnival **

Gilbert was genuinely surprised when he saw how big this Carnival was. It was as large as a small city. It was amazing really. There were street performers everywhere, Some people dressed as clowns handing out balloons and people walking stilts. He remembered a lot of them from them from Francis's party, although he didn't talk to them.

"This place is pretty cool…" Muttered Gilbert. He looked up just in time to see a rollercoaster car fly by. "… Wonderful."

Matthew grinned. "Yeah, that's how you get from one side to the other if you don't want to walk. You take the rollercoaster."

Gilbert grinned. "I like it. Much more efficient than trains, monorails, busses or taxies… They probably get you there on time too."

"What's a train?" Asked Matthew curiously.

"Big stupid metal boxes that run on tracks that smell like piss and vomit." Said Gilbert in a matter of fact kind of way. "People also pack into those things like sardines and claustrophobic people have strong panic attacks."

"… Sounds awful." Said Matthew. "Let's go do something. What do you want to do?"

Gilbert shrugged and looked around. "Whatever you want to do is fine by me. I'm not fussed." Matthew smiled happily and walked over to the big slide that was set up. This slide was at least three stories high. That was one hell of a slide.

It took a little while to get all the way to the top, but it was worth it. The view from up there was amazing. They could see everything, but best of all there was a pit full of foam squares at the bottom. Soft landing.

Matthew grinned and sat down, looking over at Gilbert. "Race you."

Gilbert chuckled and sat next to him. "You're on." On the count of three the two of them raced to the bottom down an almost vertical drop. It was too close to decide on a winner so they went around to the other rides and games. Gilbert couldn't help being a little competitive. They did however break up the competitiveness by going on the roller coaster and eating lethal amounts of junk food.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Eventually the sun started to set and the two of them found themselves on the ferris wheel. Gilbert sighed happily. Today had been pretty awesome in his opinion.

Matthew smiled happily and picked off some cotton candy and ate it. "Did you have a fun day?"

"Awesome day." Said Gilbert happily.

"I'm glad you think so." Said Matthew softly. His ears went down slightly. "I-I hope this makes up for what happened earlier…"

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "So you dropped me by accident. Big fucking deal… I'm the one that destroyed your house. I should be apologising, not you."

Matthew shrugged. "It's okay… I was meaning to redecorate anyway. Besides I live at the palace mostly because of work, so it doesn't really matter that much. The whole cottage thing seems a little old fashion… Maybe I'll try something modern like a minimalist thing?"

"I'll help you with that." Said Gilbert quickly. He did feel a little guilty about destroying his house.

"It's fine. Don't force yourself." Said Matthew happily. "It won't take that long to fix."

"If you're sure…" Muttered Gilbert.

"Of course I'm sure." Said Matthew. "I'm the White Rabbit. I have to be sure about every decision I make. If I'm not, something bad might happen… Cotton candy?"

Gilbert took off a chunk and ate it. Cotton candy was an awesome, fluffy, pure sugar snack. Rots the teeth pretty badly though. "Thanks. But what do mean by something bad might happen?"

"People won't get their mail on time." Said Matthew with a grin. "Bad things happen when people don't get their mail."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Of course."

Matthew chuckled a little before going quiet again. "… Hey Gilbert, are you straight?"

"Why?" Asked Gilbert.

Matthew blushed a little and his ears drooped so low they looked like they were hanging off his head. "It's just that… before when you touched my tail that… and you were really pissed about the dress and it all just… I'm sorry I asked. Of course you're straight."

Gilbert sighed and leaned back in his seat. "Firstly, I thought you were going to rape me. Horny, perverted bastard. Secondly, I hate dresses. Finally I'm bisexual. Girls have their good points and so do guys. It all depends on the little things."

Matthew tilted his head a bit to the side in a cute puppy kind of way. "What kind of things?"

"Depends on what you're looking for." Said Gilbert casually. "Initially there are looks because everyone's a little vein like that, then there's personality and how well you both get along."

Matthew nodded a little, gazing out at the scenery. "What do you look for?"

"… I never really looked for anything." Muttered Gilbert. He knew he should have been dating, he was a teenager after all, but he couldn't help but feel that there was something holding him back. "I guess I've been too busy to find someone."

Matthew nodded. "Okay… After this do you want to go to the Circus after this? They have an evening performance at dusk."

Gilbert grinned. "Sounds awesome."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

The big top circus tent was some way away from the rest of the town, close to the forest. People were already walking in to get seats. Matthew grinned a little and took Gilbert's hand. "Let's get some good seats."

"Sure." Muttered Gilbert. He was kind of happy to see a circus performance. He couldn't remember the last time he had done that. They sat near the middle, close to the exit.

Soon the lights went dark and a man with spiky blond hair too centre stage. From his purple suit and tops hat in his hand, Gilbert assumed that he was the ringmaster.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He called. "Welcome to the circus! I'm Mathias and I'll be your ringmaster for tonight." The lights went out. "Lukas!" Whine Mathias. "Stop fooling around!" The lights came back on. "Thank you… Firstly we have the amazing acrobats! Mei and Bella!"

Everyone looked up to see A Taiwanese girl with a flower in her hair and a Belgium woman with a green ribbon in her hair were standing on platforms high above the crowds. They were wearing matching blue and silver leotards. They bowed and started their act of flips and twists and turns. They pulled of stunts that seemed impossible for the human body, yet they did it easily.

Everyone was clapping and cheering by the end of it, even Mathias. "Great show girls! Now onto the next act; Tino, Berwald and the amazing the amazing dancing dogs!"

Two more blonds came into the ring followed by a conga line five dogs. The shorter man and three of the smaller dogs did a small balancing act while the taller performed some kind of dance and catching trick with the two larger dogs. This made Gilbert smile a little. For some reason dogs made him think a little of the brother he couldn't remember.

"Now who loves a good lion taming act with a brave lion and a fearless lion tamer?" Asked Mathias when Tino and Berwald and finished their act. "Well too bad. We just have Sadiq and Hercules."

A man who was wearing a white mask and carrying a whip came onto the stage with one very tired looking half lion man who seemed to be asleep despite the cheering of the crowd. Their act was more comedic than awe-inspiring. It basically ended with Sadiq chasing Hercules around the ring while cracking his whip and cursing at him.

There were several more acts including actual clowns, contortionists and other equally interesting acts. Eventually the show started to come to a close and Mathias took centre stage again. "Once again we have come to the end of the performance, but before we go tonight we've decided, since it's late that we will tell you all a story."

Gilbert raised an eyebrow and looked over at Matthew. "A story?"

"Yeah." Said Matthew happily. "The evening performance always has this as the last thing. They tell a story… I wonder what they'll tell tonight?"

Mathias grinned happily and clapped his hands. "Let me invite you to a world, where there's no such thing as time and every creature only lives to change your state of mind!" The spot light went off him and up towards the tightrope where Mei was standing.

She was wearing a yellow dress and white ballet flats. Her hair was tied up in a bun with a few longer strands framing her flawless face. Her pink flower was still in place. Mei gracefully took a few steps forwards onto the tightrope, doing a few quick turns like she was looking for something.

"For lack of a better name we shall call her Beatrice." Said Mathias happily. "Beatrice had an older sibling, her name was Rosa." Bella Quickly appeared next to her on the other side of the tightrope. She was grinning from ear to ear in her tomato red dress. She had a green ribbon in her hair and looked absolutely stunning, She walked over to Mei and held her hands.

"Both sisters were very close, but by the fate of a higher power, Rosa got sick and died." Said Mathias. Bella waved goodbye to Mei and fell off the tightrope. Mei reached out in an attempt to catch her, but failed. "After that Mei was very alone, but lucky for us the story doesn't end here."

Kiku appeared behind Mei and pushed her off. She fell down and was caught but Hercules and Sadiq. Lights flooded the tent reviling the magical stage set up; trees, shrubs and a backdrop.

"Cool…" Muttered Gilbert.

"Beatrice was transported to a magical land." Said Mathias happily. "Everything in this land was nonsense. In this land no one could every possibly hurt her… But even though she's dreaming she knows it's a lie."

Gilbert frowned a little and whispered to Matthew. "I don't get it… What does he mean she's dreaming?"

Matthew smiled a little. "When Beatrice fell it was symbolic of her falling into limbo. Where she is now is a fantasy she made up to escape the pain of losing her sister."

Gilbert frowned. '_Huh? That's weird…_' He couldn't help but feel uneasy with that description. It sent a small shiver up his spine.

Mei smiled as she walked hand in hand with Hercules and Sadiq around the ring while some performers on horses did tricks with ribbons. Gilbert had missed part of the story and frowned a little. He wasn't sure what was going on anymore. He missed an important part.

Mathias grinned. "But things aren't always what they seem in this so called perfect world… There are many things wrong that seem to be insignificant for the most part, that twist and warp the mind."

Hercules and Sadiq moved away from Mei and disappeared behind the backdrop, while Kiku ran up to Mei and wrapped a blind fold around her eyes. As he did this the lighting changed so that everything became dark and a thick fog filled the place. A dark blue silk rope was lowered from the roof and Kiku wrapped is around her arm before quickly scampering off.

Mei was lifted high into the air and the got tangled in it like a bug in a web. It was creepy. Lights flashed in a nightmarish way as everything became distorted as Mei struggled to free herself without falling to the ground. The sight was making Gilbert sick.

"Will she ever break free?" Cried Mathias. "Will Beatrice ever escape this hellish nightmare and go home or will she be stuck here forever and ever and ever?"

Gilbert gulped and little and closed his eyes. He felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't know why he was freaking out like this. There just seemed to be a part of his subconscious that was screaming at him to escape and leave the tent before it was too late.

"Are you okay?" Whispered Matthew. "You look like you're going to be sick."

"… I think I'll go outside for a second." He muttered. "I need to get some air." He stood up and quickly made his way to the exit.

As he left he could hear Mathias's voice booming. "And what's the morel to this you may ask? Is there even one? The answer is quite simple really! You can't run away from reality, no matter how tragic it may be."

Gilbert quickly ran out of the tent and towards the trees that surrounded it. He took in some deep breaths as he leaned against a tree, his legs were trembling. His whole body seemed utterly repulsed by the story, but he had no idea why. '_What the hell? That was… What the fuck? Why did that scare me?_' He sighed a little and shook his head. It was all too strange to him.

The sounds of soft giggling made him look up. Standing a few meters away from him were several Night-terrors. They smiled brightly at him and held their scrawny clawed hands out to him. Gilbert gulped and tried to back away, but his legs were frozen in place. It felt impossible to moved backwards yet he could move forwards. Seeing as how the Night-terrors weren't trying to grab him, Gilbert decided to look at them properly and hopefully he would soon regain control of his legs.

The Night-terrors seemed to be crouched forwards slightly, like they were about to leap forwards any second. Their heads seemed to be a squished oval shape. Their arms and legs seemed too small for their body.

One of them beaconed the albino over with a smile. Gilbert gulped a little and awkwardly moved forwards. He didn't want to, but there was just something that compelled him to walk towards them. It was like an out of body experience. He knew what was happening, but he had no way of stopping it.

The Night-terror's giggled and two of them rushed forwards taking his hands. Their skin was cold to the touch and a little rough. They smiled happily and started to drag Gilbert down the path towards the Cold Lair.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yep… he's screwed. Please review.


	12. Cold Lair

**Shinigami-cat: **So yeah, if Matthew doesn't notice that Gilbert's gone he's got some serious issues he needs to work out… I OWN NOTHING!

**Cold Lair**

Gilbert' mind had gone foggy not long after the Night-terrors had dragged him away to the Cold Lair. All he remembered was feeling really sleepy and cold until he zoned out and everything became dark.

When he woke up he was sitting up on some kind of couch with a thick blanket wrapped around his body. Being the extremely cautious about his situation he quickly checked that he was still was still wearing his pants. Thankfully they were still pulled up.

He sighed a little in relief. '_… Good, so at least my virginity's still intact. Next question, where the fuck am I? Judging by the cold weather I'd say that I'm in the Cold Lair…_'

Gilbert yawned and stretched, his back popped a little and he grinned. The room he was sitting in was a light blue colour and had a red carpet. It looked nice enough.

"So you're awake." Said an oddly childish voice.

Gilbert looked up and gasped. Ivan was standing near the window smiling down at him. He gulped a little and shifted slightly. "What am I doing here?"

Ivan pouted a little. "Here I was trying to be nice to you and help you out by taking you to a nice warm room where I knew you wouldn't freeze to death and that's your first question? Not very nice of you."

Gilbert rolled his eyes. "Whatever… but I'm pretty sure that asking what I'm doing here is a pretty appropriate question to ask."

"I guess…" Muttered Ivan. He sighed a little and walked over to Gilbert, leaning over the back of the couch, causing Gilbert to lean away slightly. "I happened to be wandering around in the snow to escape my dear little sister Natalia when I happened across a group of Night-terrors dragging you across the edge of my land towards the Hatter's place. I can only assume they were going to eat you."

"So you're saying you saved my life?" Asked Gilbert sceptically. There was just something he didn't trust about this man.

"Da, that's right." Said Ivan. He smiled a little. "Your lips had turned dark blue and you skin was even whiter than it is now. You looked like a corpse, if you weren't breathing I would have thought that you were dead."

"Oh…"

"Da." Ivan sighed and pointed at some clothes on the floor. "These will be helpful for you if you want to leave or even walk around the house. It gets pretty nippy this time of year…"

"Winter does suck sometimes." Muttered Gilbert. "When's Spring?"

"Never."

"Oh." Gilbert looked down and picked up the thick woollen coat and pulled it on. It was very soft and equally warm, same goes for the gloves that were there too. Once he had wrapped himself up he felt his stomach growl a little.

Ivan chuckled. "Hungry, da?"

"A little." Said Gilbert. He stood up and sighed. "Well, I think I should be going now… I have places to see, people to find…"

"No, stay a little longer." Said Ivan, his smile never leaving his face. "You're hungry da? Let me get you something to eat and Katyusha would love to talk to you again. She mentioned last night how you were the size of a mouse."

Gilbert shrugged. He was never one to turn down a free meal. "Okay then. I don't want anything fancy, something simple enough will do."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

They ended up sitting in Ivan's parlour eating toast and drinking hot chocolate. All in all Ivan didn't seem that bad to Gilbert, very creepy, but still a nice kind of guy. He liked him.

"She ended up chasing for about an hour before she gave up." Said Ivan with a small chuckle. "Natalia is really fast."

Natalia, the Jabberwocky, was Ivan's younger sister and she was completely in love with him. It was a little creepy, but Ivan did say that she had good intentions. Although it did make it a little difficult to make friends with the other inhabitants of the land. He didn't mind though, he was used to the solitude.

"Sounds freaky." Said Gilbert as he sipped his hot chocolate. "I'd personally be flipping shit if my little brother was in love with me… I think you're handling this well."

"I guess so…" Muttered Ivan. He took a bite of his toast. "Still makes things very difficult for me. I mean I still talk to Yao, and I have my henchmen."

"Henchmen?"

Ivan smiled a little. "I have three henchmen, all from different countries; one from Latvia, one from Lithuania and one from Estonia. They are quite good at keeping the house clean. You might see them if you walk around, but they don't have to stay here. They like to travel, but they always come back eventually. This is, after all, their home."

Gilbert nodded a little and stared deep into his mug. '_Home… How many floors did the house have again? One, two?_' His eyes suddenly went wide with fear. '_Oh shit… I-I can't remember! What did my room look like? Red wall paint, no blue, green, black! Oh fuck! Oh fucking fuck! Did I have any pets? And my…_' He felt like he was going to be sick. '_Did grandpa just live with us or was he our guardian? Shit I can't remember any more!_'

"Are you okay?" Asked Ivan. "You look a little ill."

Gilbert shook his head a little to rid himself of those thoughts. "I'm… I'm fine. Just trying to remember things… That's all."

Ivan nodded a little. "I see… Well I was wondering what you planning to do when you leave here. Is there anyone you are going to see?"

Gilbert nodded. "Ja, I'm going to find Matthew. I kind of ditched him last night when those Night-terrors. Knowing him he's probably freaking out and blaming himself again."

Ivan raised an eyebrow, but said nothing more on the subject. "When Katyusha comes back I'll get her to take you back to the Francis's palace. Until then you can go and explore around the house. Just don't try to open locked doors and if you go out into the court yard, try to actually stay in the court yard. If you venture outside I can't guarantee your safety."

Gilbert nodded and quickly finished off his hot chocolate. "Sure. Later Ivan." He got up and went outside. He felt like making a snowman.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Francis sighed as he watched Matthew pacing a hole into his carpet. "He couldn't have just vanished. Maybe he went and found someone to take him in for the night?"

"Doubtful." Muttered Matthew. "I checked all over Yao's territory and found nothing. Same thing when I went and checked the Tower. Mr Fix hadn't seen him since yesterday…" He started to tear up. "What if something bad happened to him? It's all my fault!"

Francis sighed dramatically. Matthew needed to calm down. "Well he isn't here. I'd know if he was…" He picked up a letter and held it up. "If you take this to Arthur you can check his place… But if he isn't there you know where he is."

Matthew froze on the spot. He looked like he was going to be sick. "Ivan… Oh no… He'll… He'll get rid of him! He can't get rid of the Alice so early! Can he?"

Francis shrugged. "Who's to say? He's never been wrong before has he? Now off with you sweetie. I want Arthur to get his letter soon."

Matthew rolled his eyes and quickly grabbed the letter. "Okay, see you later."

Francis smiled warmly. "See you later."

Matthew quickly tucked it into his pocket and started to run. He couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that was starting to form in his stomach. If Ivan already had Gilbert he could have expelled him from this reality by now. That thought made Matthew sick.

'_He can't be gone yet._' He thought frantically. '_If Gilbert's gone I… Damn it. I'll murder Ivan! If he even touches one hair on Gilbert's head I'll end him._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Not long after Gilbert had left to make his snowman Natalia had burst through the door. Surprisingly the littler Jabberwocky wasn't pestering Ivan into marriage again. She seemed to be more concerned with Gilbert's presence.

"Why is he here?" She snapped.

"Why is who here?" Asked Ivan a little nervously. He wasn't in the mood to deal with his little sister psychotic tendency's.

"The Alice." Growled Natalia. She flexed her wings a little and whipped her tail about dangerously, like she was about to explode in a fit of rage and jealousy.

Ivan smiled a little and held up his hands in defence. "Please calm down. I sent some Night-terrors to fetch him last night. I just wanted to speak with him a little first."

Natalia clenched her fists. "Speaking is all well and good, but why is he still alive?"

Ivan chuckled a little to himself turned to watch Gilbert from the window. "Damaged goods." He muttered. "Can't kick him out like that. He's stayed here too long."

"Big brother…" Mumbled Natalia. "Why do you keep looking at him? Why don't you look at me? Just send him back already. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. . Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back. Send him back."

Ivan chuckled a little and looked over at his little sister. "I do care about you Natalia, I just need to get rid of Gilbert. That's all."

"Then let me do it!" Cried Natalia as her tail flicked around dangerously. She would do anything to please her older brother. "Let me kill him!"

Ivan shook his head. "No. You can't kill Gilbert. It's my job to do such things… But seeing as how he's damaged goods I can't send him on his way, not just yet. I need to wait a while… But I really wish that there was some way to speed up the process."

"Then let me bring him to you!" Whined Natalia. "If I bring him to you now you can kill him! He's right outside!"

Ivan sighed a little. Natalia was so pushy sometimes. "I said it wasn't his time? Do you doubt me? Are you saying that I'm wrong?"

Natalia's tail drooped a little and she looked down at the floor, ashamed. "No big brother… I'm sorry for doubting you…"

Ivan smiled and continued to gaze out the window. "Good. You can go now, and if I find that Gilbert's been harmed or is dead I'll be coming after you." Ivan didn't like threatening his sister, but sometimes it just had to be done. He didn't make threats lightly and always followed through with them.

Natalia nodded and left the room. "I still don't see why everyone cares about the Alice so much." She hissed spitefully. "The Alice is an outsider."

Once she was gone Ivan chuckled and looked back out the window. Gilbert was putting the finishing touches to his snow man. "On the contrary… We are the outsiders, merely voices calling out to him over and over and over and over as he falls deeper and deeper and deeper and deeper. All the while he calls to someone who isn't there; 'Pull me out! Pull me out! Pull me out! Pull me out! Pull me out!'… Silly boy."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert sighed a little as he looked over the snow man he had just made. '_Looks okay I guess…_' He breathed into his gloved hands a little, trying to warm them up a little.

"Hey you." Snapped a harsh voice. He turned around and frowned. Natalia looked pissed.

"What did I do?" Asked Gilbert tiredly. He wasn't in the mood to go head to head with this crazy girl.

Natalia walked right up to him and growled a little. "What makes you think you can just walk up here and take all of big brother's attention? You don't deserve it."

"Then take it." Said Gilbert simply. "I don't want his attention. I just want to do home." That was all true, besides he thought that Ivan was a little creepy, probably a nice person but creepy as hell.

Natalia's glair seemed to intensify drastically. "Are you saying big brother isn't good enough for you? Just because you're the Alice doesn't mean you can take big brother's feelings for granted!"

Gilbert raised his hands in defence. "Look, I'm going to lose no matter what I say. You'll punch me if I say I like him and you'll hit me if I say I don't. But honestly Ivan freaks me out and I don't like him the way you seem to."

Natalia frowned a little and looked over Gilbert again. "You're doing it wrong."

"Huh?"

"The snowman." Said Natalia. "It needs a scarf and a hat."

Gilbert looked back at his snowman and frowned. It was true that it was missing a hat and scarf, but he didn't want to take anything without asking. "Yeah well… I didn't know where to get those."

Natalia rolled her eyes and took off her winter hat and scarf, putting them on the snowman. "Better." She muttered. "… It's too cold out here." She turned and walked back into the house. Gilbert was surprised that she had done that, but wasn't complaining. He figured that was just her way of being friendly.

'_She's pretty nutty, but she's okay._' Thought Gilbert. He looked up at the sky and smiled a little. It was slowly starting to snow down again. It was beautiful, but at the same time it just made him feel lonely. '_… I guess I should leave here soon. Matthew's probably worried about me._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **And yeah… Please review!


	13. Falling Inside the Black

**Shinigami-cat: **Why is it that all the humorous stuff I try to do ends up as some kind of drama and or an angst thing?… I OWN NOTHING!

**Falling Inside the Black**

Gilbert stayed outside in the snow for a little while longer. He didn't mind the cold. For some reason it made him feel apathetic. It was strange. The cold never made him feel that way before. He usually liked it… At least he assumed he did. He couldn't remember.

He closed his eyes a little and sighed slightly. '_Why do I get stressed when I try to remember? Why does it hurt? I want to remember but… I don't understand… Someone please help me…_' He opened his eyes and quietly cursed himself. His cheeks were slightly damp with tears.

He sighed and walked back inside. He walked back past the pallor where Ivan was, he couldn't help but hear Ivan talking to someone. He leaned against the door and decided to listen in.

"And that's the reason why I'm letting him stay." Said Ivan happily. There was a moment of silence. "At least try to look pleased Mr Fix. I know that you've taken a liking to the boy. At least this way you might be able to spend some time with him."

There was a small clang, like two pieces of china were being clicked together, there was the sound of a pen scribbling against paper and a low chuckle from Ivan.

"Da, I guess I could do that… But you know it's a bad idea to get them to drink from the spring. If too many people do that we run the risk of the world shattering into oblivion."

"That's true." Said another voice. This one sounded Chinese. It confused Gilbert a little but he continued to listen. "Well the White Rabbit only needed to drink from the spring so he could complete his job."

"Quite true Yao… But now I can't do my job because he's stayed here for too long. Do either of you know the protocol for this situation?"

"I think Mr Fix has the right idea. If we let Gilbert drink from the spring he can choose where to go. His decision will be final." Gilbert gulped a little. He had no idea what they were talking about. For some reason he was frightened by it. He moved away from the door and quickly ran off before he could hear anymore.

When he was far enough away he took in a few deep breaths. He knew he heard of some spring before, but he wasn't exactly sure where it was from. '_Crap… didn't Feliciano or Kiku mention something like that at the party? What is that spring anyway and why did Matthew drink from it?_' All this thinking was making Gilbert dizzy.

He pushed himself away from the wall and kept walking. It suddenly felt very stuffy in the house. He wanted to get outside again and as far away from the Cold Lair as possible. It was strange, but he just felt he had to. It was like he was being guided by instinct now and not rational thought.

He quickly made his way outside and ran through the snow, as far away from Ivan's mansion as possible. He easily made it through the snow and towards the snow-capped forest that seemed to surround the centre of this world.

When he felt that he was far enough away he collapsed at the base of a tree. He didn't care that the snow easily covered up to his waist. The cold didn't seem to reach his skin in the slightest.

He pulled his knees up to his chest and looked up at the sun, just mockingly peeking through the clouds. "What's happening to me?" He whispered softly. "I'm surrounded by so many people, but I feel so alone… Fuck I've wasted so much time. I want to go home… Where ever home is… How the hell did I even get here in the first place?" Just mentioning it made his head hurt. He closed his eyes and fell into a stress induced sleep.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert chuckled a little as he sat next to his brother, quickly talking to him in sign language. He younger brother had been in a car accident several years earlier leaving him unable to speak. He had learnt sign language so he could communicate easier with his brother. He liked it better than talking. It was like their own secret language. Also this way it was easier for him to memorise the hand signals.

'It was so funny.' Signed Gilbert. 'That stupid teacher didn't even realize that he had that note taped to his back until last period! Best day ever! How about you? Do anything fun today?'

His brother rolled his sky blue eyes and quickly signed back. 'What do you think? Grandpa took me to the doctors again. They found an anomaly in a CT scan. They want me to go back for more tests. But I'm sure it's nothing.'

Gilbert frowned a little. His brother never wanted to be a bother to anyone. He wanted to get healthy soon so that he wouldn't be a burden grandpa or anyone anymore. 'Well it's good to get things like that checked.' Signed Gilbert. 'If it's something bad they'll be able to fix it. I'd hate to see something happen to you bro.'

His brother nodded a little. 'I know, but I'm still a little worried. If it's something like a cancer I don't know what to do.'

'Get the therapy of course.' Signed Gilbert with a small smile. 'You get the therapy and you pull through. We're the only ones grandpa has now. Besides you're a Beilschmidt. A Beilschmidt always pulls through no matter what. I know you can do this. I just know it. You're strong.'

'And if I'm not strong enough?' Asked his brother slowly. 'What happens then? I don't want to die.'

Gilbert bit his bottom lip a little. He didn't want his brother to die either. He was very close to him. He never wanted anything bad to happen to him. Gilbert was the eldest. It was his job to look after the youngest. 'We're probably freaking out over nothing. The machine probably fucked up. You know how crappy some of this hospital equipment can get.'

His brother smiled nervously. 'If you say so… But I'm still a little worried.'

Gilbert smiled and ran his fingers through his brother's blond hair. "Don't worry bro." He said. "You know I'd never let you die on me right? You're too awesome to just drop dead like that. Besides if you did do that you know I'd go to hell and back just to bring you home."

His brother rolled his eyes and flattened his hair back down. 'Why are you so sure that I'm going to go to hell?'

Gilbert grinned. "Because you are way too awesome for heaven… Heck you're too awesome for hell. You might just end up in purgatory." He chuckled a little and put on a creepy voice. "The place where all those too awesome for heaven and hell go!"

His brother smirked. 'So you're saying that you're going to purgatory when you die?'

"No doubt." Said Gilbert with a grin. "When I end up in purgatory it'll be awesome. My awesomeness will know no physical bounds and I'll easily kick anyone's ass that gets in my way."

If his brother could laugh he would. 'Right. Anyway I saw you talking to another patient the other day… Who was that?'

Gilbert smiled a little. He decided to use sign language to talk from now on instead of talking normally. He didn't want anyone else to hear. 'That's Birdie. He has cancer in his throat… I really like him. He hasn't talked his whole life. I think he said that he was a selective mute before he got the cancer. I'd love to hear what he sounds like…'

His brother smiled a little. 'So you got a crush on a boy? That's so gay.'

Gilbert rolled his eyes. 'You know, you're more sarcastic without a voice than you were with one. I don't know if I should be happy or disappointed in you.'

'Be happy for me.' Signed his brother. 'Statistics show that happy people live longer.'

'Okay then. I shall take that as a friendly jest at my sexuality.' Signed Gilbert with a smirk. 'Besides I thought you yourself was a little on the fruity side, or is your browser history a lie?'

The blonds face went bright red and he started to sign frantically to his brother. 'Lies. All lies. Why are you on my computer anyway? Stop going through my stuff. Why do you do these things to me?'

Gilbert grinned and messed up his brothers hair again. 'Calm down bro. I was actually joking… But I honestly wouldn't care if you were gay, straight or bi like me. As long as you're happy I'll be happy.'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert opened his eyes a little and shivered. Sitting in the snow for who knows how long had thoroughly soaked his clothes. Oddly he didn't mind that much. He also didn't mind the tears that were easily slipping down his face.

'_That's right…_' He thought sadly. '_My brother was sick. I remember his hair and eyes… I still can't remember his name._'

He slowly stood up, feeling the full effects of the wind against his damp clothes, freezing him to the bone. Gilbert shivered and clutched his sides. He felt like an ice cube. He shuddered and took a few shaking steps forwards before falling flat on his face. He was too cold to move.

'_I just want to sleep…_' He thought to himself. '_I… I just want to sleep._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew was at his wits end. Gilbert wasn't at Arthur's place at all. He had searched high, low and everywhere in between for him and came up with nothing. This led him with only one option, Gilbert was in the Cold Lair.

"Damn it…" He muttered darkly. "Damn it all. Why does he have to be there? I just hope I'm not too late to save him…"

He was about to set off to the Cold Lair when Alfred grabbed his arm. "What's the rush bro?" He asked.

Matthew growled a little and pulled his arm away from him. "I need to find Gilbert. I think he's at the Cold Lair. I don't want Ivan to get his hands on him. You know what he might do to him."

Alfred flinched a little at Matthew's words and looked down at his feet. "Sorry… I just… I needed to talk to you about… about Arthur…"

Matthew sighed a little. As much as he wanted to shove the blond away he knew he couldn't. "Okay… but I can't stay for too long. What's wrong with Arthur?"

"He… He's getting better, but I feel weird about it." He said softly. "I mean, he's not violent anymore, but I feel like I'm losing him."

Matthew smiled sympathetically at the rabbit. He knew that Alfred was deeply in love with Arthur, but at the same time he knew that they could never work out. They didn't complement each other like true lovers would. He wanted to tell Alfred to let Arthur go, but he couldn't. All he could do was smile and nod.

"I understand Alfred… But maybe you should start looking around too? I mean Arthur isn't the only one out there…"

Alfred pouted a little. "But he's… He's important to me. I really care about him and I don't want Francis to take him away from me!"

Matthew flinched a little. He knew that Alfred wouldn't just let this drop. He wanted to help him, but finding Gilbert was more important to him at the moment. "Maybe you have to." Said Matthew. "If Arthur likes Francis now there's nothing you can do… Tell you what, come with me to find Gilbert. It'll take your mind off things."

Alfred frowned a little. His ears drooping low on his head. "Okay… Where is he anyway?"

"I'm pretty sure he's in the Cold Lair." Said Matthew. He suddenly found himself being dragged along by Alfred by the back of his jacket. "Eh? What are you doing?"

Alfred grinned. All signs of previous sadness seemingly gone from his face. "The hero needs to save the Alice! The March hare and his side kick the White rabbit!"

Matthew smiled a little. '_At least now he's back to his old self again._'

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It didn't take long for the two rabbits to reach the Cold Lair. It seemed bitterly cold today, more so than usual. Alfred shivered and wrapped his arms around himself. "Damn… Why is it always so damn cold here today? It's not usually like this. Just a mild snowfall, not this bitter snowstorm."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Quit exaggerating things. It's not that bad… We should search the forest before going to the house." Alfred nodded in agreement. The two split up and agreed to meet back in about two hours.

Matthew went left to hopefully find Gilbert. He couldn't snuff out the fear that was building up inside him. He wanted Gilbert to be safe more than anything. '_Please don't be hurt._' He thought slightly panicked. '_Please be okay… Damn it, why does this always happen?_'

His eyes darted around the trees in an almost panicked fashion. That sinking feeling was getting worse. "Damn it… Why does this always happen to me? Why do I keep losing him? It's not fair damn it!"

After a while he found a few tracks, almost completely covered in snow. It wasn't a lot to go on but it was better than nothing. At least the tracks looked human enough. He followed the tracks as quickly as he could, doing his best not to miss one or trip over something.

Sure enough he eventually found Gilbert buried under a pile of snow. He wouldn't even have seen him if it wasn't for his hand sticking out of the snow. He quickly ran over and pulled Gilbert out of the snow. His skin felt like it was frozen solid, his lips were turning blue and his eyes were a washed out red. He looked like he was in some kind of strange hibernate state, similar to a coma.

Matthew gulped and pulled Gilbert into his arms. "Come on Gil… You can't die on me. Not here, not like this… Damn it I need to keep him warm… These stupid clothes aren't doing anything for him either… oh maple." He quickly checked his watch. It was about time he met up with Alfred again. "Don't worry Gilbert. I won't let you die."

He picked Gilbert up and ran back to where he and Alfred were meeting. Alfred was already there and looked at the pair in shock. "Dude… what happened to him?"

Matthew shrugged. "I have no idea, but we need to take him somewhere warm… Can I take him to Arthur's? It's closer than the palace."

Alfred nodded. "Dude, of course! We can't let the Alice die!"

Matthew nodded in agreement and the pair started to run back to Arthur's place. Alfred, not having to carry extra weight was the faster of the pair and ran on ahead to make sure everything would be ready when Matthew and Gilbert arrived.

As Matthew ran he glanced down occasionally to see how Gilbert was doing. His lips were moving a little, like he was trying to say something but it was a little difficult to tell what he wanted to say, but after a few moments he was able to lip read what he was saying. It hurt Matthew greatly.

'_Pull me out? Why does he keep muttering that over and over again?_' Thought a very distressed Matthew. '_I'm doing my best but you still want to leave? I don't want you to leave me… not again._' He love Gilbert too much to lose him. He didn't care if he sounded selfish, for once in his life he wanted to be selfish. Come hell or high water he would keep Gilbert with him.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… Everything I wrote ends up as some kind of weird drama! I don't know why… Please review!


	14. Your Magic White Rabbit

**Shinigami-cat: **Hopefully this chapter will be more cheerful, and not nearly as depressing as the last chapter. Also I changed this from Humour to Drama, it just fits better… I OWN NOTHING!

**Your Magic White Rabbit**

_One day I woke up in a strange land. One could call it a wonder land, but it seems too sinister for that. It was darker than I expected._

_It was there I met a black widow. She sat on her web, waiting for her new lover. She said she had found one before and binded him. Still she calls out over and over again for another and another. She was a dangerous woman. She was too appealing in looks. She lured those into her web and devoured them when she was done with them._

_I could see some struggling in her web. They were calling out for me to help. "Pull me out!" The would cry. "Pull me out! Pull me out! Pull me out!"_

_It was none of my business so I left them there. I had no reason to free them. Eventually the black widow would return and end their lives after showing them one more kindness. I did not know their ways so I did not judge. I turned a blind eye and walked away._

_After Many hours of walking I found a white rabbit sitting on a stone, washing its blood red paws. He couldn't fix his broken promise, no matter how hard he tried._

_I later found another similar rabbit covered in lacerations. When I asked who had done it to him he smiled and simply replied. "My beloved of course. These marks are a symbol of his love for me." Before I could talk to him further he happily hopped away._

_With a frown on my face I continued to walk. I found a man talking to himself. He was laughing and singing and screaming in pain all at the same time. It was disturbing. This man was truly mad. When he saw me he laughed and pulled himself in half, making two. Frightened of what I saw I ran away._

_I met a caterpillar sitting on a mushroom. He kept asking me who I was and something about crocodiles. I turned to walk away and ran into a man with a wide cat grin. When I told him I wanted to find my way home he laughed. "There's only the Queens way!"_

_Crazy, though he was, the cat showed me to the Queen. I met a man full of heartbreak and sorrow. An man with a broken heart and no love. It hurt to see him like that, but there was nothing I could do. I simply asked him the way home because I wanted to see my family again. For some reason this angered the Queen. "Off with your head!" He yelled. I guess I can't blame him. I had a family, he didn't._

_It was then I was led to the guillotine._

**1**

_Even now with the blade over my neck I can't help but feel as though I've somehow been trapped in this country's web like the black widows lovers? Though I never found this world appealing I found it intriguing._

**2**

_Now Death, my black widow, has come to take my life._

**3**

_Though Death has decided to treat me once more and let me see my brother amongst the crowd… _

**OFF WITH HIS HEAD!**

_But who is that boy with the violet eyes behind him?_

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Matthew sighed sadly as he sat next to Gilbert. Hours earlier his eyelids had fallen closed and his mutterings stopped but now he was just in a state of sleep, similar to a coma but not nearly as deep.

He ran his fingers through Gilbert's soft hair. He was always surprised by how soft it was. '_So light… It's almost like your hair is made of feathers…_' He smiled sadly. For some reason Gilbert hadn't shed a single tear since he had fallen into this sleep. It worried him a little, but did his best to pretend it didn't. He was used to pretending.

There was a knock at the door and Alfred popped his head in. "How's he doing?"

"Okay I think…" Muttered Matthew. "I just wish he would wake up…"

"You and me both." Said Alfred. He crouched down one the floor and rested his elbows on the mattress. "… What do you think Ivan did to him?"

"I don't want to know." Said Matthew. "I just want him to wake up… or for him to cry so I can take his pain away…"

Alfred smiled a little. "So you found your beloved… I was wondering when you would do that. Every other rabbit has someone. Kiku has Hercules, Katyusha has Sadiq and I… I had Arthur. Now you have Gilbert."

"I'm sorry about that. Arthur I mean." Said Matthew. "You deserve better."

Alfred smiled a little. "Yeah… I guess I should have seen it coming. I mean I did keep drinking his tears. He kept regretting leaving Francis… I was just in denial. I didn't want him to be in love with someone else."

Matthew nodded and patted his brother's head. "I understand, but there are better people out there."

"I know… How did you know Gilbert was the one?" Asked Alfred curiously.

Matthew smiled a little and looked lovingly down at Gilbert. "I just knew… Remember that legend Kiku told us about? The one about the red ribbon?"

"Yeah." Muttered Alfred. He looked down at his hand and sighed. "I guess my ribbon got broken along the way…"

"I'd say tangled." Said Matthew. "Anyway, I knew as soon as I saw Gilbert that he was the one… and If I'm wrong I'll just have to move on. It's as simple as that. Nothing to it."

"… You're a weird one Matt." Said Alfred. "If he's the one you shouldn't let him go no matter what."

Matthew chuckled and brushed for hair out of his face. "I don't have any plans on letting him go… I'm the reason he's here in the first place, and I regret it every day I'm here."

Alfred gave Matthew a questioning look, but otherwise didn't push it. "Whatever… Well I'm going to go get something to eat, and then run around delivering letters again." He got up and walked to the door.

When he was gone Matthew sighed a little and looked back at Gilbert. '_I'm sorry for everything Gil… But I promise you that I'll do everything in my power to make you happy again, like you used to._'

He closed his eyes a little and sighed heavily. "Please wake up Gil… I don't want you to stay like this…"

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It was another half hour before Gilbert stirred. He blinked a few times while looking blankly at the ceiling. '_So I guess I didn't freeze to death._' He looked over to Matthew. He was leaning against the side of the bed and resting his head against the mattress. His odd hair curl was bobbing a little as it got caught with the air he was breathing out of his mouth. '_Cute._'

He yawned a little and scratched his cheek. The last few events that had happened to him were a little foggy in his head, but it was quickly clearing. He remembered his dream vividly and it worried him greatly. "… Blue eyes." He muttered. "Blond hair…"

The sound of his voice seemed to wake Matthew up. He looked up at Gilbert and smiled. "Finally. I was worried you weren't going to wake up for a second there."

Gilbert looked over at Matthew with dead fish eyes. "I still can't remember his name… I think his name started with and L or a W."

Matthew's ears drooped a little. "Who are you talking about?"

"My brother." Said Gilbert. He looked back up at the ceiling and sighed a little. He didn't feel happy, sad, angry or even scared. He just felt empty. Completely exhausted, like he was emotionally drained.

Matthew smiled weakly. "I see… Can I ask you something important? It's nothing too personal I just want to know what Ivan did to you."

"Nothing." Said Gilbert simply. "He said nothing to me… But I overheard him talking to Mr Fix and a man called Yao. They were talking about me. Something about drinking from some spring. I don't know why, but at the time it scared me so I ran away."

Matthew nodded, but his ears seemed to flop lower on his head. "I see. You should stay away from them. At least for the time being."

Gilbert, not being one to argue at this point in time, nodded. "Okay… Do you think I have amnesia? It would explain why I can't remember him. I wonder if I have some kind of head injury."

"I doubt that." Said Matthew with a small smile. "You don't have any bruises or bumps on your head as far as I can tell. Plus you're not bleeding out on the pillow so your head hasn't cracked."

Gilbert shrugged and sat up. He noticed that he was wearing a baggy shirt and sweat pants. "What happened to my clothes?"

"When Elizabeth heard you were coming she got you some old clothes and helped dry you off…" Said Matthew quietly.

"Okay." Said Gilbert. For some reason he didn't feel embarrassed about that at all. He pulled his knees up to his chest and sighed a little. "Why do I feel so numb?"

"I don't know." Said Matthew. He stood up and sat next to Gilbert. He pressed the back of his hand against Gilbert's forehead. "Maybe you're sick… You do feel unnaturally cold."

"And you feel warm." Said Gilbert. He closed his eyes and leaned into Matthew's hand. He couldn't help but feel like he was melting. His cheeks started to feel a little damp. He chuckled a little. "You're the only one that seems to be able to make me cry."

"I'm sorry." Said Matthew. He tilted Gilbert's chin up a little. "All rabbit's can drink someone's tears they not only see why someone's upset, but the White rabbit can do that and take away pain… Will you let me take away your pain?"

"Why do you care so much about me?" Asked Gilbert. "Ever since I've been here you've pretty much been looking out for me… Why?"

"Because I love you." Said Matthew simply. "I love your laugh, I love your smile, your eyes, your hair, your skin… everything. But I hate it when you're in pain. Please let me help you."

Gilbert just looked into Matthew's eyes. He didn't know what to think of his sudden confession. He knew he was telling the truth, but he didn't feel the same way at all. "I'm sorry… But I don't love you."

Matthew looked down at his hands. "I… I don't care." He whispered sadly. "I just want to help you. You're in pain and I want to help you." Without waiting for a response Matthew cupped Gilbert's face in his hands and gently flicked the tip of his tongue across his cheek, lapping away Gilbert's tears.

Gilbert just sat there, unable to really move. The action wasn't unpleasant or too disturbing in his opinion so he just let Matthew do what he wished. It was weird having Matthew so close to his face. '_He smells like maple syrup._' Though Gilbert. '_Does he bath in it or something?_'

After a few moments Matthew pulled back. His face was bright red. "Do you feel a little better now?" He asked in a small voice. "Did that help at all?"

"… A little I guess." Gilbert chuckled a little. "You sort of reminded me of a dog."

"A dog?" Whined Matthew. "I was trying to do something nice for you! Don't just call me a dog! I'm a rabbit!"

Gilbert grinned. "Ja, a rabbit that acts like a dog but has a human body. You are one crazy messed up hybrid."

Matthew's ears stood up happily on his head as he grinned from ear to ear. "You seem better now. That makes me happy."

"Well I'm happy that your ears aren't drooping down like they sometimes do." Said Gilbert with a small smile. He honestly didn't like it when Matthew was upset. He liked it better when he smiled. It suited him better.

Matthew smiled and looked down at his hands. "Before when I confessed… I was being serious. I really do love you, and I understand that you don't feel the same way…"

"Thanks." Said Gilbert a little nervously. "I mean I like you and everything, but I don't like-like you… I mean maybe if I got to know you better and everything… and I only mean maybe… and stuff…" He left like a stupid school girl. He didn't know why this was coming out so strangely.

Matthew chuckled a little. "Yeah, I get it. Anyway, do you want to eat anything? We're at Arthur's place at the moment… and when you feel a little better we could go back to the palace, maybe?"

Gilbert nodded in agreement. "Ja, sounds good and as long it isn't any weird purple cupcakes I'll eat anything. I don't want to get turned into a giant and then a midget again."

Matthew nodded happily and got off the bed. "Sure. I'll see what he has in the fridge." He turned and walked off, shutting the door behind him.

When he was gone Gilbert sighed happily and snuggled back into the blankets. '_Now… What colour hair and colour eyes did my brother have? And did his name start with a T or an O?_'

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Matthew looked through Arthur's fridge, carefully picking through the home made baked goods and questionable burnt much until he found something that looked edible. It looked like a container of left over pasta that Feliciano probably made. It still smelt fresh so he heated it up.

As he waited for it to heat up he couldn't help but think back on what just happened and blushed. '_I can't believe I confessed to him and he didn't reject me! Well he didn't exactly fall head over heels for me either, but I didn't expect him to fumble over his words like that! Too cute!_'

He giggle a little, his tail wiggled a little and that made him laugh harder. "This is so weird, I guess I really am part dog." He picked up Gilbert's food and walked back to the room. As he walked he couldn't help but ponder what he had just learnt from Gilbert.

'_So he remembers me from back then… I can't have that. If he remembered who I was and how he got here he would hate me forever._' He opened the door and chuckled a little. '_I left for two seconds and he's out like a light._'

"Come on Gil, I got you something to eat. Wake up."

Gilbert sat up and pouted a little. "Just because I was laying down doesn't mean that I was asleep… Is that pasta?"

Matthew nodded and gave it to Gilbert. "Hope you like it. Either Feliciano or Lovino made it… More than likely Feliciano. Lovino's better at making pizzas."

Gilbert grinned and started to eat. "This is awesome!"

Matthew smiled happily and sat next to Gilbert. '_Glad you think so…_' He thought. He looked down at his lap and smiled a little. '_I hope you never remember me before you came here… But I guess that will never happen if I keep drinking your tears… and I keep you as far away from that spring as possible._'

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Things are getting suspicious! Please review.


	15. Body and Soul

**Shinigami-cat: **Feels like forever since I wrote stuff for this… HOLY HECK IT HAS! I'm so sorry! Being half asleep does that to people. Please forgive me people! Please, please, please… I OWN NOTHING!

**Body and Soul**

_Dream, dream and dream again. An endless cycle that humans endure forever. To fall asleep and dream of paradise. To die, to sleep, perchance to dream ay there's the rub. Sometimes the curiosity can kill the soul but leave the pain in Wonderland this feeling is no different. _

_The pain was buried deep within everyone, but none had so much pain as the White Rabbit. The rabbit who has to smile happily at those around him and pretend that nothing ever happens. When no one is watching he smiles sadly and whispers;_

"_I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."_

_No one ever hears him speaking out to them._

"_Please forgive me."_

_No one ever answers him. Unless he does his job he is silent to the rest of this world._

"_I'm sorry… I'm sorry for what has happened to you…"_

_To the other occupants of this world he is less than invisible, most of the time he is never there._

"_I'm sorry for what I did to you."_

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It had been a few days since Gilbert had left Arthur's place to live back at the palace. While he was there he got to know Antonio and Francis better. Those two were quite awesome in his opinion. At the moment he was in the garden drinking lemonade and eating fancy cakes with the pair.

"And it all ended with Lovino hitting me again." Said Antonio with a smile.

Francis chuckled and took a sip of his drink. "If you didn't want that to happen you shouldn't have hugged him."

"But he was so cute!" Cried Antonio. "And he looked just adorable, I just wanted to jump him right then and there…"

"And that's why he should have neutered you." Said Gilbert. He picked up some kind of macaroon and ate it. Feliks was one hell of a cook.

Antonio's ears flattened against his head a little. "You guys are mean… But yeah. I think it's mating season for my kind or something. I just keep getting this hot, fuzzy feeling right in the pit of my stomach whenever I smell him." He whacked his head against the table. "This sucks… Francis, what do you do what Matthew's in heat?"

"Lock him in a random room in the castle with enough food and water to last in the week, lube and other such things." Said Francis casually like it was nothing. "I mean, what else am I going to do with him?"

Gilbert's face went bright red. '_And I'm never going to get that image out of my head ever…_'

Francis chuckled. "Something wrong Gilbert? Your face is as red as one of Antonio's tomatoes."

Antonio nodded in agreement. "Si."

"Well… I'm just not that comfortable with discussing that kind of stuff…" Muttered Gilbert quietly.

"Fair enough." Said Francis. He took another sip of his drink before putting the rose shaped goblet on the table. "Anyone do anything interesting besides almost getting killed by Lovino?"

"Besides feeding the hedgehogs, nothing." Said Antonio.

Gilbert sighed a little. "I went to the library with Matthew. There are a hell of a lot of interesting books in there."

"Really? I don't like books that much." Said Francis. "There are too many sad stories in books… Never enough happy endings in my opinion. Someone always gets hurt be it the good guy or the bad guy… and in the end is the hero ever truly happy with the sacrifices made along the way?"

"It's all about how you look at things." Said Gilbert. "Sure you can be pessimistic about the whole thing and say that you gained nothing from the story, but what matters is what the characters within the story gain, learn and end up understanding about themselves and those around them."

"That's pretty comprehensive." Mused Antonio. "You really like books don't you?"

Gilbert nodded happily. "Ja, when I was younger I read stories to my brother all the time… I've always liked the idea of going to a fantasy land where nothing can hurt you…" He sighed a little. "A place where everything is perfect and no one is mean or capable of committing crimes… It's a nice thought but nothing like that will ever happen. No such place exists."

There was a brief silence. "Indeed." Said Francis. "That's why we just have to live the best life we can with the card we have drawn."

"Still doesn't change the fact that I'm horny." Muttered Antonio.

"And just like that the conversation has gone back to Antonio's dick." Said Francis with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. "Just go and talk to him or send him a letter or something. It's stressful to hear you talk about such crude problems."

"Speaking of crude problems how's Arthur and his split personality doing?" Asked Antonio curiously. He genuinely wanted to know how things were going between the two and so was Gilbert.

Francis chuckled and had a little more of his drink. "Arthur's other half has calmed down a fair bit. He hardly ever appears now, which is good."

"Do you know what made him go crazy in the first place?" Asked Gilbert. "From what I've gathered or at least understand, Arthur wasn't always like that."

Francis sighed a little. "Yeah… Years ago I said something I shouldn't have and he just snapped. He warned me about it before but I just didn't listen to him. I shouldn't have called him that…"

"What did you call him?" Asked Gilbert.

"A big brother." Said Francis simply. "He always said he didn't want to be called something like that, said that the words big brother just made him feel sick. I shouldn't have called him that… It was stupid of me. But I don't know why he hates being called that, he's never been an older brother or had one before."

"That's weird." Said Antonio. "… Yeah, I think I might send Lovino a letter or something… Not sure what I'll say, but it's worth a shot."

"Sounds like a plan." Said Gilbert. He downed his drink and sighed a little. "So what are the plans for the rest of the day?"

Francis shrugged. "Well I'm planning to talk to Arthur today."

"I'll be writing a letter to-" Antonio suddenly stood up and sniffed the air. "Lovino." He quickly took off in some direction with a determined look on his face."

"And he's picked up the sent." Said Francis casually. "By the end of the day one of them won't be able to walk."

"Sounds legit." Muttered Gilbert.

Francis chuckled a little. "What about you Gilbert? Is there anything you plan to do today?"

"Not really." Said Gilbert. "There isn't really much to do here… I mean, it feels like I've done everything at least twice already."

"Well you can then do everything thrice instead of twice." Said Francis with a smile.

"And I now believe you're mad." Muttered Gilbert. "Don't you have a hatter to annoy?"

Francis grinned and finished his drink. He stood up and stretched. "Indeed… Well I guess I'll be off, I suggest you have fun wandering around the place and do tell me if you see Matthew. I haven't seen him all day." Gilbert frowned a little. He hadn't seen the quiet blond either. He would have to keep an eye out for him.

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Matthew was tired, way too tired. He crouched down by the edge of a pool and started to wash his hands cleaning off the blood. Well, it couldn't really be considered blood. It was more like a thick black resin. Even Night-terrors had to have something in their veins.

More would come. Always more and more, every night. Of course he knew why they were there and what they wanted, but he wouldn't let them have it. He would not let them take Gilbert away.

"Come on Ivan…" He muttered darkly. "If you're going to do something, do it yourself." He yawned a little. "Damn it… I need to sleep more. I'm not used to staying up for days at a time…"

"You need… to rest…" Said a computerized voice. Matthew jumped and looked up. Mr Fix was standing near the pond where Matthew was cleaning himself. Matthew smiled a little.

"So you finally got that voice box working I see… It's a little fuzzy, bat at least you can talk now." He sighed a little, turning his attention back to the water.

Mr Fix let out an audible sigh. "You… should let… him go…"

Matthew rolled his eyes and continued to wash his hands. "I would have thought that out of us four you would be on my side, not Ivan's. Is expelling Gilbert the really the best way to deal with him? I think not."

"It is… what's best…" Said Mr Fix. "He shouldn't stay… anymore… Too much… time here is… dangerous for the… body and soul…"

Matthew chuckled darkly. "Body and soul? Body and soul? What the hell does anyone here know about body and soul? We're just lost people that have no idea where we're going or how we will get there… Heck we don't even know when we'll get there! I hate it here! Gilbert's the only reason I even bother to deal with this shit anymore!"

"Lies." Said Mr Fix. "You do it… because you're… selfish…

"Shut up." Hissed Matthew.

"You know… what will happen to him… if he stays…"

"Just shut up!" Snapped Matthew. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! I know what I'm doing! Just… please… shut up…"

"Let… him… go…" Said Mr Fix. "For his sake… Not your… own."

Matthew reached into the pond and grabbed some stones. "I said shut up. Listen to me when I fucking say something. I have a voice don't I? Let me fucking speak damn it!"

"Let Ivan… take him away… He doesn't belong… here…"

"HOW TH FUCK CAN YOU SAY THAT?" Screamed Matthew. "HE'S YOUR OWN BROTHER! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU WANT YOUR OWN BROTHER GONE?" He turned and threw a stone right at the man's face. There was a loud and harsh thunk from where the rock hit his face. "Shit…"

Mr Fix growled a little and removed his hood to revel his sky blue eyes, slicked back blond hair and nasty looking stitches along his throat. There was a bit of blood running down his forehead. "That… was not… necessary…" He muttered.

"He doesn't even remember your name anymore!" Snapped Matthew. "He doesn't even remember what you look like, what I look like! He remembers nothing! Nothing before he came here! He doesn't even remember that your name is Ludwig!"

"It can't… be helped…" Said Ludwig sadly. "He doesn't… belong… He is… a chess piece… in a game… of cards… He doesn't… belong…"

"Just stop saying that..." Growled Matthew. Tears were starting to well in his eyes. "I'm tired of it all… I'm sick and tired of everything. I just… I just want everything to get back to the way things were, before everything went to hell."

"If only… we could… go to hell…" Muttered Ludwig bitterly. He took a watch out of his pocket and sighed. "I must go… But Ivan… will be sending… more Night-terrors… He wants to… remove Gilbert… by any means… possible…"

"I know." Muttered Matthew spitefully. "Why do you think I'm trying to get rid of the evidence?"

Ludwig shook his head and started to walk away. "If you… hurt my brother… I will… Murder you…"

When he was gone Matthew chuckled darkly and went right back to cleansing himself of the sins he had committed. "Murder me? Fat chance… If I hurt Gilbert I'd kill myself."

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It was around nightfall when Gilbert saw Matthew again. He couldn't help but notice the dark circles under the poor blonds eyes and the droop in his ears. Matthew sighed a little and curled up in front of the fire in the library where Gilbert was reading.

"Are you okay?" Asked Gilbert. "You look sick… and I mean really sick."

"I know…" Muttered Matthew sleepily. "I've just been running myself ragged lately, but I guess that's nothing new."

This made Gilbert frown. He put his book down and sat next to Matthew. "Come on Mattie, talk to me. What happened today? Why are you like this? Please tell me? Please?"

Matthew smiled a little. "It was nothing that bad… Just a bit of this and a bit of that… Nothing special or too terrible."

Gilbert frowned and looked down at Matthew's hands. There was some weird black gunk under his nails. "What's that Mattie?"

Matthew frowned and curled his fingers under the palm of his hand. "It's nothing Gil…" He yawned. "Sorry, I'm just too tired… I'm so tired…"

"Then just go to sleep." Said Gilbert with a small smile. "That's all you need to do."

Matthew chuckled a little and closed his eyes. "So innocent…"

Gilbert blushed a little. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing…" Yawned Matthew. "Nothing at all… Wake me up before you leave the library. I still have stuff I need to do… Only have time to take a small nap…"

Gilbert nodded a little. "Sure thing…" He knew Matthew was hiding something, but if Matthew wanted to tell him, he would eventually. He would just have to wait it out.

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Yeah… well please review!


	16. The Spring

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… here's the next chapter. I'm so, so, so, so, so sorry that this chapter took so long to write! For some reason this was realy hard for me to write. I hope this turned out well… I OWN NOTHING!

**The Spring**

Matthew was neck deep in a bath of pink and flower petals. After a night of fighting off Ivan's Night-terrors his body was aching horribly. He had a several cuts and bruises from them. He would soon have to go and see Ludwig to heal his slowly decaying body.

Night-terror bites were like throwing fire into a pool of flammable liquid. If one touch brought horrific nightmares, what could a bite do? Drive a person crazy no doubt if not treated properly. His mind burned with cold harsh reality every waking hour and positively ripped his mind to shreds.

He closed his eyes and let his ears flop lifelessly by the side of his head. He had difficulty trying to remember why he didn't just give up and let Ivan take Gilbert away. But the answer was simple enough. Everything he did was all for the albino. Perhaps it he was being selfish again. According to most people he talked to it seemed to be his speciality. As far as Matthew was concerned love made people do stupid things.

"Gilbert…" He muttered to himself. In his mind he could still remember Gilbert's warm smile and every embrace, not from this time of course, but from his memories. In his memories Gilbert was smiling and happy, but here he was so different. "It's will be fine soon… Soon everything will be alright… Everything can go back to how it was… We can be together again… You just need to stay here for a little longer…"

One might think that Matthew was a little obsessive, but that was just who he was just who he was. A poor, mad, crazy rabbit boy. He didn't care nor mind if he was called mad. He just had to accept it. Those within this land were nothing more than mad. Mad as hatters, one would say, but that job was already taken.

After a while Matthew got out of the tub and sat on the edge of the tub watching the water roll off his skin. By the time the water had moved down to his feet it had turned a bright pink, almost completely red colour. This was bad. Really bad. If Matthew was going to survive he would have to see Ludwig soon. Matthew quickly dried, bandaged and dressed himself. To keep up the charade of being happy and content with how things were all he needed to do was smile.

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Gilbert looked up from the book he was reading and frowned a little. "Why do you need to see Mr Fix?"

Matthew smiled kindly. "Well I just need to talk to him about some stuff… Besides, everyone needs a check-up once in a while. I need to make sure I stay healthy. So I'll be back in a few hours."

"Can I come with you?" Asked Gilbert hopefully. He was tired of just staying in the palace all the time. It was a beautiful place, but even the most beautiful of places start to lose their appeal when one stays there for a long, long time.

Matthew thought about this for a moment. "I don't know… Ivan might still be after you or something… and I don't want anything to happen to you…"

"You don't need to baby me." Said Gilbert sternly. "I'm not a child."

"I know." Said Matthew. He sighed in defeat. "Okay, but you need to stay close to me… I don't want any mishaps while we're out."

Gilbert nodded in agreement and put his book down. "Okay. Let's go then."

The walk back to the tower was uneventful apart from Gilbert occasionally yelling at the flowers he claimed were evil creatures. Matthew just chuckled at him and questioned how flowers could possibly be evil. Gilbert responded by shaking his head.

When they got to the Tower Gilbert wasn't surprised to see Mr Fix touching up some bits and pieces of machinery with slightly bloody tools. All was a mess. All was in shambles. It was chaotic, but at the same time it all seemed to fall together quite well.

"Hey Mr Fix." Said Gilbert happily. "Long time no see. How are you?"

"I… am doing… better." Droned Mr Fix in a robotic voice, making Gilbert jump about ten feet into the air.

"You can talk!" He cried.

He only assumed that the noise the man made was some kind of chuckling noise. "I made… a voice box…"

"Neat."

"Anyway…" Muttered Matthew. "I was wondering if you could have a look at a few things. I haven't really been feeling like myself lately… And I was hoping we could do this in another room?"

Mr Fix nodded and gestured for Matthew to follow him into a back room, leaving Gilbert alone. But this was only for a few minutes, hardly any time for Gilbert to look at anything of interest. Matthew seemed a lot happier for it too. "Put drops… in eyes…" Said Mr Fix.

Matthew nodded and sat down, starting to put the eye drops in his eyes. "Sure. After this we can go."

As Matthew fixed his eye's Gilbert tried to discreetly look at his face from under the hood. He was curious as to what this man actually looked like. He wasn't getting anywhere with that. Perhaps the direct approach would be easier. "So… I was wondering, what do you look like under there, and Mr Fix can't be your real name, can it?"

Mr Fix shrugged. "No… It's just… my title… I guess… I could show… you my… face… If you… like…" He removed his hood to revel his slicked back blond hair and bright blue eyes, the same shade as the sky. He looked at Gilbert and smiled warmly. "My name… is Ludwig."

Gilbert frowned a little, as if in deep thought. "Ludwig… That name sounds so familiar…" Suddenly his eyes lit up. "Oh yeah! Ludwig Van Beethoven! Great composer."

Ludwig smiled a little. "Yeah… he was… Are you done… Matthew?"

"Almost…" Muttered Matthew as he put the eye drops down. He blinked a couple of times and smiled. "Okay I'm done for now. We can go now if you like."

Gilbert nodded. "Ja, let's go. Nice to actually see your face Ludwig. Keep working on that voice box. Still sounds a little robotic."

"I… will…" Said Ludwig slowly as he waved goodbye to the pair.

As they left Gilbert couldn't help but feel as though he had met Ludwig somewhere before. It was weird but he almost instantly shrugged off the feeling. If he had really met Ludwig before he would have remembered.

Outside the sun was just starting to set, turning it to twilight. It was quite beautiful in Gilbert's opinion, but Matthew didn't seem to think so. He was too quiet. Halfway down the path Matthew stopped walking. "It's quiet…" He muttered. "A little too quiet…"

Gilbert shrugged. Sure it was quiet, but it wasn't that quiet. Matthew was just being paranoid. It wasn't even that dark anyway so it was unlikely any Night-terrors were out and about. "You're over thinking things." Said the albino. "There's nothing out here."

"Maybe…" Muttered Matthew. His ears were twitching a little, like he was listening for something. "I'd still like it better if we get back to the palace as soon as possible… I don't like being out during twilight…"

"I guess…" Muttered Gilbert.

Suddenly sever Night-terrors jumped out of the trees, hissing and spitting. Matthew cursed under his breath and grabbed Gilbert's arm, pulling him away from the Night-terrors. "An ambush. A blitz attack." Growled Matthew darkly. "When the hell will he just give up?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Asked Gilbert. "Whine will who-" Gilbert tripped and fell flat on his face, dragging Matthew down with him. "Damn it…" He tried to pull himself back up but something had caught on his ankle. When Gilbert reached down to try and pull himself free he was shocked to see it was the claw of a Night-terror.

It grinned widely at him and started to drag him away, more Night-terrors quickly caught up and joined in. Gilbert kicked and cried out for Matthew to help him, but he quickly saw that Matthew was having his own problems pulling off the Night-terrors that pinned him to the ground. Something heavy hit Gilbert in the back of the head and everything went black.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Slowly Gilbert opened his eyes. He seemed to be in some kind of pitch black dungeon type thing, but there was no torture equipment. Slowly he sat up and took it all in; it was a large circular room that had a spiral staircase that seemed to travel higher and higher until he couldn't see it anymore, torches offered little luminance in the dark room. In the middle of the room was a small pool of water. The rocks inside the pool of water gave off a blue glow. Next to the pools was a small ivory goblet on an amber pedestal.

"Where… Where am I?" He muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes. He could never see very well in the dark.

He heard a door open up at the top of the steps. Looking up he saw a the figure of the Undertaker. Said Undertaker smiled down at Gilbert and jumped down, hitting the ground with nothing more than the tap of his boots. "Terribly sorry about that." He said with a smile. "I needed to talk to you alone in private, without Matthew… So I thought what better place than here in the lowest chamber of the tower."

Gilbert frowned. "The tower? Mr Fix's place?"

"Da, that's correct." Said Ivan happily. "So… have you heard about what is down here?"

Gilbert nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off Ivan. "Ja, something about a spring… I take it that the pool of water over there is the spring?"

Ivan's smile got wider. "That is correct. You are quite smart, da?"

"Whatever…" Mumbled Gilbert. "Where's Matthew?"

"Matthew is… not here." Said Ivan with a smile. "But he is safe. Let's talk, da?" He extended his hand out to the smaller teen.

Gilbert looked at Ivan's hand and frowned. "Matthew said I shouldn't trust you…"

Ivan chuckled a little. "Do you trust everything that he says now? You may look like a teen, but your mind has regressed to that of a small child. You are too trusting. Why do you trust him so much?"

Gilbert frowned a little. "I… I don't know… I just know I can trust him."

"But can you?" Asked Ivan with a small smile. "In this world I'm painted as the bad guy. A one dimensional character that murders… You're the Alice aren't you? Tell me about your Wonderland."

"What?" Gilbert was completely confused at this point. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Your Wonderland." Said Ivan. "Here everyone is two faced. We wear masks to hide our true ones. Our cards, our destines here are the masks we wear. Our true motives are hidden behind our cards. Our masks." He chuckled a little and walked towards the spring. "The Alice card is the best card to have because it's neutral. It has no power here. You don't wear a mask. You can't. Instead you regress to the most innocent part of your mind."

Gilbert nervously stood up and followed Ivan with his eyes. "I still don't understand you… What do you mean about these masks and stuff like that."

Ivan looked at Gilbert with cold eyes and picked up the small goblet on the table. "There's always two sides to every coin. The side that everyone sees and the darker side that is hidden behind their false mask. I have two reasons for bringing you here. One, it's my job and two I actually want you to understand that this place isn't all sunshine and roses." He crouched down and filled the goblet with water from the spring. "This place is far worse than it seems."

Gilbert frowned and looked between Ivan, the goblet and the spring. "So what's that supposed to be? The fountain of knowledge or something?"

"You could call it that if you wish." Said Ivan with a shrug. "It's more like a spring of clarity." He walked over to Gilbert, holding the goblet out to him. "This spring clears your mind and makes it easier to understand this world and your own mind. Only four people can drink from here… the Caterpillar, the Undertaker, Mr Fix and when the time comes the White Rabbit… The only exception to the rule is when it's deemed fit for the Alice to drink as well."

Hesitantly Gilbert took the goblet. It just looked like there was clean water inside it, but he knew from experience that looks in the world were deceiving. For example those bloody purple cupcakes. With a small, but audible gulp, Gilbert raised the goblet to his lips.

But before he could drink it there was a loud crash, like someone had ripped a door right off its hinges. "WAIT!" Cried Matthew as he quickly ran down the steps, jumping down the last few steps. "DON'T DO IT!"

Ivan growled in annoyance and stood in between Matthew and Gilbert. "Don't interfere." He growled in a warning tone. "You have no rights here rabbit. If you try to stop this from happening I will have to kill you."

Matthew glared at Ivan. "You have no right to do this to him. He doesn't have to drink from the spring if he doesn't want to."

"Stop acting like you know how things are meant to happen." Hissed Ivan. "Why are you treating him like a child… Is it because you don't want him to remember? Why are being so selfish."

"I'm not being selfish." Growled Matthew darkly. "You don't have the right to do this either."

"It's my job, rabbit." Spat Ivan. "It's just nicer when people do things willingly instead of having to force them, but you know all about force don't you? You forced him here. I know you did. There is a reason the Alice can choose when and if they wish to enter this Wonderland… But seeing as how you forced him here it seems only fair if he can choose to stay or go after he knows the whole truth. Drink the water Gilbert."

"Don't do it!" Said Matthew in a slightly panicked tone.

"Do it!" Snapped Ivan.

Matthew growled and launched himself at Ivan, knocking Ivan to the ground. They found for a bit while Gilbert just stood there in stunned silence. He wasn't really sure what to do. On one hand he trusted Matthew but on the other hand he did know Matthew was hiding something. With a small gulp Gilbert downed the liquid in the glass. Immediately his vision went fuzzy and he felt himself collapse, but he never hit the floor. In the back of his mind he could hear Matthew screaming, but it was getting distant.

"You bastard Ivan! He'll… He'll never forgive me now! Never ever!"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Damn… next chapter you shall all finally find out the truth… Please review!


	17. Life Before This Wonderland

**Shinigami-cat: **And now we shall see the truth… I OWN NOTHING!

**Life Before This Wonderland**

Gilbert's life had originally been like that of a broken fairy tale. His mother was a woman who loved to tell him stories. She would use them to try and explain things that he didn't understand, like why he didn't have a father, why she was marrying another man and why she was getting rounder and rounder with child.

Things seemed to be looking up for him until the car crash. The family had been driving back from visiting their grandfather when it happened. It was nothing more than a blur of bright lights and screeching tires in Gilbert's memory. The weeks after were nothing more than the dull beep of the heart monitor and the awful smell of disinfectant.

Gilbert was only five when it happened and he still didn't understand that his parents weren't coming back again. He also didn't understand why his brother wouldn't talk anymore. It was just too difficult to understand for a small child of his age. His grandfather explained it the best he could, but even then it was hard for him to imagine what happened.

Eventually Gilbert understood what had happened and it hurt. But he tried to get over it, he really did. He learnt sign language to help speak with his brother and to make him feel more normal.

It worked well for years. They would happily talk for hours on end with their hands and do many other normal things that normal brothers did. But even then the world seemed that Gilbert's family hadn't suffered enough. When his brother, Ludwig, was thirteen and Gilbert was sixteen, Ludwig got a terrible case of bronchitis. This landed him in and out of hospital for months on end. It was there on one of Gilbert's many visits to that hospital that he first met Matthew.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert whistled a little to himself as he slid down the railing in the stairwell. He had just finished up his visit with Ludwig and was heading home. He had pretty much become well known around the hospital. But he didn't mind. Just as long as his brother didn't die he didn't care how many people knew him.

When he got down to the last flight of steps he noticed a young boy around his age in a hospital gown. He had long blond hair and violet eyes. He looked lost.

Gilbert frowned a little. "Hey are you lost or something?" The boy jumps back a little in shock, falling backwards. Luckily he was on the bottom step at the time so he didn't have far to go. Gilbert gulped and quickly ran down to the boy. He was surprised that he didn't make a noise. "Are you okay? Nothing broken? Say something."

The boy shook his head and started to make some gestures indicating that he couldn't speak. Gilbert nodded and quickly started to use sign language. 'Can you speak like this? Do you know sign language?'

The boy blinked in surprise and nodded, quickly signing back. 'Yes. I didn't realize that you did. How do you know?'

Gilbert chuckled a little. 'My brother can't speak. He's mute. An old accident from when we were kids. What about you?'

The boy blushed a little. 'It started as being a selective mute, but I started coughing up blood a few days ago so I'm here. I've got throat cancer. I probably won't speak ever again.'

Gilbert frowned and helped the boy to his feet. "Sorry to hear about that… I'm Gilbert by the way. Who are you?"

The boy smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. 'I'm Matthew.'

"Okay Matthew, it was awesome to meet you. I'll see you around sometime. I come by almost every day." Said Gilbert with a grin.

From that day on whenever Gilbert went to visit his brother he would meet up with Matthew to say hi. From there the albino slowly started to spend more and more time with him. They would talk and smile and laugh together. It was fun and before Gilbert knew it, he was developing feelings for the small blond.

More often than not, the pair would find themselves on the hospital roof top. This particular visit to the hospital that they both ended no differently. They were both on the roof and Gilbert sighed sadly. "So my brother's going in for surgery tomorrow… I'm worried he won't make it. They said there's only a forty precent success rate with that kind of operation…"

Matthew patted Gilbert's back in a comforting sort of way. 'There's only a ten precent success rate with my operation. I'm sure he'll live.'

"Thanks Mattie." Said Gilbert. He chuckled a little. "Shit I'm such an idiot. I forgot you're going under the knife tomorrow too… Didn't you tell me there was a high success rate for your operation?"

Matthew smiled nervously. 'Sorry. I just didn't want you to worry. My cancer has wrapped around the major veins in my throat so I might not make it. But if it's any consolation you optimism has helped a lot.'

Gilbert frowned a little and held Matthew's hand. "You will make it through this. I know you will… You're strong Matthew and even if you don't end up getting your voice back I knew sign language and I'm loud enough for the both of us."

Matthew blushed a little and moved slowly pulled his hand out of Gilbert's grip. 'Are you straight?'

Gilbert shrugged. "I'm bisexual. Girls have their good points and so do guys. It all depends on the little things."

Matthew smiled a little. 'What kind of things?'

"Depends on what you're looking for." Said Gilbert casually. "Initially there are looks because everyone's a little vein like that, then there's personality and how well you both get along."

Matthew blushed a little more and averted his eyes a little. 'Do you think we get along well?'

Gilbert looked over Matthew's face. Even though his eyes were averted he could tell something was up. "I'd say so… Matthew are you gay?" The poor blonds face went fire truck red as he quickly turned his back on Gilbert. This just made the albino chuckle. "Don't be like that Matthew. I'm bi, so it doesn't matter to me." He wrapped his arms around Matthew's waist and kissed his cheek. "I love you. Do you love me?"

Matthew nodded and quickly kissed Gilbert's cheek. 'I love you. I have for a while. I'm scared that I'll die tomorrow and I won't see you again.'

"Don't be like that…" Muttered Gilbert calmly. "I'll tell you what I told my brother, if you end up passing away I'll go to heaven, hell and even purgatory to bring you back home."

Matthew smiled a little, still blushing. 'Really? You'd do that? For me? We hardly know each other.'

Gilbert chuckled a little. "You think it's extreme for me to think that I could pull you back from hell, heaven or purgatory but it's fine for me to say I love you?"

'When you put it that way, it does sound silly.' Signed Matthew with a smile. 'Well, I think visiting hours are over. Come see me tomorrow after surgery okay?'

"Sure." Said Gilbert happily. "I can't wait to hear you talk, but first there's something I want to do before I go." He held Matthew close and kissed him gently on the lips. Matthew quickly kissed back, wrapping his arms around the albino's neck. It was an innocent kiss that seemed to last for years, but in reality it was about a minute. Slowly they pulled away, both with dark blushes on their faces.

Matthew smiled and tucked some hair behind his ear. 'I'll see you tomorrow. Love you Gilbert.'

"I love you too, Matthew."

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

It was a surprisingly cold day, the day after Ludwig's surgery. It had a bit of a foreboding feel to it, but Gilbert easily shrugged it off. He had lots of homework to do before he went to the hospital.

He was in the middle of writing a history paper on the awesome country of Prussia when his grandfather knocked on the door. "Door's open." Called Gilbert. His grandfather walked in, he looked distraught. Gilbert raised an eyebrow in concern. "What happened?"

"It… It's about your brother…" He muttered.

Gilbert slowly put his laptop down. Something was wrong. Very wrong. "What happened?"

"Ludwig's dead."

The words cut through Gilbert like a knife. His little brother was gone forever. At first he didn't believe it, but when he saw the body in the morgue he couldn't deny it. He cried himself to sleep that night.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Several months after Ludwig's funeral Gilbert came back to visit. His brother didn't deserve to die. No one deserved to die. Gilbert sighed sadly as he walked into the cemetery. He passed a few people who were doing simple gardening work.

He made his way along the cold stone pathway until he found the row where his brother's tombstone was. It was with a heavy heart that he walked along until he found his brother. He sighed sadly and sat down next to it.

"Hey bro… Long-time no see… I'm sorry that I couldn't do anything for you." He muttered sadly as small tears begin to fill his eyes. "Damn it Ludwig! I'm the older brother! I'm the one that's supposed to do everything first! I'm the one that's supposed to finish school, get my licence, get a job, get married and die before you. I'm the oldest…"

He wiped his eyes a little and sniffled. '_I'm sorry for everything… I should have been there for you… I should have been a better big brother. You must hate me now… I'm the worst person in the world. I'm a failure as a brother and as a human._'

He knew he was over exaggerating everything. There was nothing he could have done to prevent his brother from passing away. But for some reason he felt he was the only one to blame for the catastrophe. He could have blamed the doctors and nurses for it, but he knew they couldn't save everyone. It just wasn't possible.

He wiped his eyes and chuckled sadly. "If you were here now I know you'd be telling me to stop feeling sorry for myself… That reminds me, you remember that cute guy I kind of had my eye on? I must be fucking cursed or something because he died too… Complications during surgery they said… He wouldn't stop bleeding… I never even heard his voice. Not once… Do you think I'm cursed? Do I have some kind of fucking mark on me that makes people die?"

He knew he was ridiculously stupid now. It was just some kind of horrible coincidence that the people around him kept dropping dead. He wiped his tears away from his face and tried to stop himself from crying again.

"Fuck… if I had any common sense I cut myself or curl up and die…" As he just pulled himself further and further into a whirlwind of despair he noticed a pair of blond rabbit ears peeking out in the long grass.

He frowned a little as he looked quizzically at the ears. Gilbert knew that there were a more than a few rabbits around the area, but they were mostly black and brown, sometimes grey and white but never blond. He watched as the ears slowly bounced away through the grass.

With a small smile tugging at his lips, Gilbert slowly stood up and followed the rabbit. He did really have much of a reason to do so. He just thought the rabbit looked interesting. It was different. But he probably just wanted something to distract him from his problems, even if it was only for a few minutes.

He smiled a little as he followed the rabbit hop around stones and over tree roots. It was kind of cute. Suddenly it picked up the pace, like something had startled it.

Gilbert still followed it, even though it was running now. It ran around a large tree near the back wall of the cemetery. It was one of those ancient trees with a million roots that climbed over each other in a tangled, labyrinth like mess. The blond rabbit jumped into the mess and disappeared.

With a frown Gilbert started to look around the tree, seeing if there was any sign of the rabbit emerging. Near the back of the tree, close to the wall was a hole. It was about as large as a manhole and covered by thin wisps of long grass.

Gilbert frowned a little and crouched down near the hole. He could just make out the stone floor down the bottom. '_… Some kind of mausoleum? Did the rabbit jump down here? The hole it a little big. Someone could fall down here and snap their neck._' He was about to move away when he saw something move down the bottom.

Curiously he leaned forwards a little to see if it really was the rabbit. He gripped the edge of hole so that he wouldn't over balance. He didn't realize how weak the earth there was and ended up tumbling forwards. He didn't even have enough time to scream it was over so fast.

He ended up on his stomach on that stone floor. His arms and legs hurt really badly and there was a terrible ringing noise in his ears. He knew he should have been screaming in agony, but for one reason or another he just didn't.

Instead he just stared blankly into the darkness that had engulfed the rest of the mausoleum. Through the darkness he could see something move. He wondered if it was a rat, but when it stepped into the light he knew it was anything but a rat. It was the blond rabbit with the strange violet eyes.

It hopped over to him a little and tilted its head in mild curiosity. It hopped forwards a little and sniffed the air around the albino, as if it was deciding if it was safe to move any closer. It slowly moved a little closer and sat up on its hind legs.

It was then that Gilbert noticed the rabbits stomach and paws were covered in blood, but it was too much for something as small as a rabbit. If it had really bled that much it would be dead. He then noticed the blood pool that was slowly growing wider around his head.

'… _I guess this is it._' He thought sadly to himself. '_I'm going to die._' He sniffled a little and a few tears slipped out. To his surprise the rabbit moved closer to him and licked his face a little affectively, licking away his tears.

Gilbert couldn't help but chuckle a little. "To think… out of everything in the world that could have killed me… it was a rabbit..." He let his eyelids slide shut and the cold numbness of the dark consume him.

**XoXoXo page brake oXoXoX**

Gilbert gasped for air, he was shaking horribly. The last moments were burned into his memory. '_That's right… That rabbit killed me… Matthew killed me._' It didn't take him long to realize that he was being held tightly in the arms by the same creature who was whispering frantic apologies into his hair.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Whispered Matthew quickly. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Gilbert growled a little and pushed the blond away. "Stay the fuck away from me!" He snapped. "You fucking murdered me! Matthew, you murdered me in cold blood! How could you do that? I thought we were friends!"

"We are!" Cried Matthew, tears were forming in his own eyes. "We are, but it was an accident! I didn't mean to! I didn't want to bring you here! I wanted you to live so I ran away at the last second! I didn't think you saw me or you at least didn't get a good look at me!"

If looks could kill Matthew would be a pile of ashes. "Well I did. Where the fuck am I anyway? What the hell is this place?"

"Limbo…" Muttered Matthew sadly. "Limbo or purgatory. Whatever you want to call it… We're just souls that can't go into heaven or hell. We're just here, waiting to be processed…"

Gilbert couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Purgatory… I'm in purgatory? I'm fucking dead and I'm in purgatory? Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Because no one knows!" Cried Matthew. "No one knows they are in purgatory apart from three people; Ivan, Yao and Ludwig! Ivan's the one that moves the souls around to heaven or hell, Ludwig is the one that fixes anything that goes wrong here and guards the spring and Yao is the record keeper, he records where everyone goes!"

"THEN WHY THE HELL DO YOU KNOW ALL THIS?" Screamed Gilbert. He hated it all, he hated everything.

"BECAUSE I'M THE ONE THAT BRINGS THE SOULS INTO PURGATORY!" Screamed Matthew. "I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO DIE! I STILL LOVE YOU! I WANT YOU TO STAY HERE!"

"WELL I CAN'T FUCKING GO ANYWHERE CAN I?" Snapped Gilbert. "YOU TOOK AWAY MY LIFE! YOU TOOK EVERYTHING AWAY FROM ME!"

Matthew sighed a little. "Do you know why the Alice is so important here? The Alice is the only one who can leave here and go home… You're not dead. You're in a coma. If you leave you can never come back here. You will have your old life back and forget all about this… everything."

Gilbert was once again shocked. "I'm… not dead? I'm in a coma? But I died… I know I did…"

Matthew smiled a little and shook his head. "No. You were found just a few minutes after you fell. You got to the hospital in time and have been in a coma ever since. Right now you've been in a coma for about three hours. Give or take."

"How is that possible?" Asked Gilbert. "I've been here for days…"

"Time works differently here." Said Matthew. "What seems like days here can simply be seconds out there…"

"So none of this is real?" Asked Gilbert. "Not one part?"

Matthew shook his head. "No, everyone one here was once alive. This place is just one of many that exist. Hundreds of these places overlap to make different worlds. Some of them good, some of them bad."

"But why does no one else know?" Asked Gilbert. "Why does no one know they are in purgatory?"

Matthew sighed sadly. "If everyone knew they were in purgatory everything would grind to a halt and fall apart… I knew if you drank the water you would remember… you would remember everything and you would hate me!"

"Damn fucking straight I hate you!" Snapped Gilbert. He couldn't believe this was happening. "I trusted you! I fucking trusted you more than anyone else here! Because of you I almost died!"

"But is it so bad here?" Asked Matthew, he couldn't stop himself from crying now. "You have friends, your brother and everyone here cares about what happens to you! What do you have back in real world? All you have is your grandfather and for all you know you'll be a vegetable if you go back!"

Gilbert growled a little and gritted his teeth. He hated it all. He wanted to go back but his brother was here. Life here was better than in reality, but he had to go back for his grandfather. His didn't know what to do.

Ivan cleared his throat a little. "In case anyone's forgotten I'm still here… and I do believe it's time for you to decide, Gilbert. Do you stay or do you go?"

Gilbert gulped a little. He had no idea what to choose. Stay or go. Stay or go. "I-I… I want to… I want to… I mean I choose to…"

**TBC**

**Shinigami-cat: **Well you find out his decision next chapter people! Well, what do you guys thing? Should he stay or should he go? Please review!


	18. Transition

**Shinigami-cat: **Well… here is the last chapter… I OWN NOTHING!

**Transition**

Gilbert opened his eyes and sighed. He was in some kind of hospital room. Eh could smell the stench of disinfectant in the air. It made his stomach turn painfully. With a pained groan, Gilbert sat up and gently touched his forehead. There was a thick bandage wrapped around it and he could feel the itchy stitches scraping painfully against his skin.

"Damn it…" He muttered. "I must have hit the floor harder than I thought…" Looking up at the clock he could see that he wasn't there for long, no more than about three hours. That wasn't so bad. "Hey!" He called. "A little help over here?"

A few minutes later Ludwig walked in. He was frowning a little. "You… are… reckless."

Gilbert poked out his tongue. "So I fell off the steps at the palace? Big deal. It was fun."

Ludwig rolled his eyes and walked over to his brother, removing the bandages and pulling out the stitches. "You are… reckless… Stop injuring… yourself. You… worry... people."

The albino shrugged and got up. "Yeah I know… I'll see you later. I got stuff to do." He walked out of the white room and into his brother's main working area. While there he picked up a knife. "So I'm going to be heading back there now, but I'll be back tomorrow for tea. That is, unless Arthur ropes me into having tea with him again."

Ludwig shrugged. "Ja… just stop… falling… down stairs…"

Gilbert grinned and put the knife in his pocket. "No promises. See you later." Gilbert exited the Tower and sighed contently. The moon was high in the sky by now and everything was quiet, too quiet. Night-Terrors were about.

Although Ivan no longer needed or even wanted to send Gilbert back, not like he could even if he tried, the Night-terrors still wanted to attack him. Apparently it was fun for them, but Gilbert was always ready from them. He had transitioned into this wonderland quite well.

He would have tea with whomever he felt like when it was time, annoy the heck out of the Gryphon and get viciously attacked by the Dutches, before hanging out with the Cheshire cat and the Queen of Hearts. He would do a bunch of other stuff in between to make the day more interesting. But there was one place he would always end up at night. The White Rabbit's house.

He knew Matthew loved him and had decided that despite everything he would give him a second chance and they started to date. Dates in Wonderland were something else entirely. Most of the time they got together it was at night, it was the only time when Matthew was free, but Francis did give him some days off when he thought he needed them.

Gilbert made it back to Matthew's house with minimal fuss, only one or two Night-terrors around at that time. He walked into the house and smiled a little. Matthew had redecorated from when Gilbert turned into a giant and pretty much destroyed the whole place. More modern as Matthew had put it.

"Hey, I'm back." He called out as he walked into the lounge room and sat down on the couch.

Matthew smiled and happily walked in and sat down next to Gilbert. He wrapped his arms around Gilbert and sighed contently. "So how's your brother?"

"He's good." Said Gilbert happily. "You know… I think I've finally settled in here…"

_The truth is hard to swallow and easily consumes even the strongest of people. Still it isn't all bad. A life in a world where one can never die is always interesting and offers some surprises. Wonderland is what you shape it. The place where you stay forever to live out your fantasies._

_Though, one should have mentioned this to him when he decided to stay; if an Alice chooses to stay in Wonderland forever not only does the body die in the living world but Wonderland becomes sealed off forever. No souls can leave and no souls can enter._

_This Wonderland is safe… at least for now anyway…_

**The End**

**Shinigami-cat: **Thank you all so much for reading this and sticking with it for so long. I hope you all are satisfied with this ending… I tried my best, I always have trouble ending these things. If you have time please check out my other stories. Please review.


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